Hulu airs Fyre Festival documentary days before rival Netflix show

Game on

Hulu have released a documentary about the failed Fyre Festival without notice four days before Netflix’s rival programme hits screens.

Fyre Fraud, a 96-minute film that documents the lead up to the disastrous Fyre Festival in 2017, and its aftermath, is available to watch in the US via Hulu’s subscription service. You can watch a trailer below.

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It includes an exclusive post-festival interview with the festival’s founder, Billy McFarland, who is currently serving a six-year sentence for multiple charges of fraud including for the failed Bahamas festival.

Netflix’s Fyre, on the other hand – released this Friday, 18 January – does not feature McFarland in any interviews except for behind-the-scenes footage of McFarland discussing business with fellow Fyre Festival founder, Ja Rule.

Both documentaries focus on the failed event, which saw some attendees part with $4,000 per ticket. The festival was cancelled after opening due to a number of basic inadequacies such as lack of running water.

Billboard reports that Fyre Fraud “examines not only McFarland’s elaborate schemes – prior to and, amazingly, after Fyre Festival – but looks at the social media culture that allowed thousands of attendees to be so thoroughly scammed despite multiple red flags.”

In a statement, directors Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason called the documentary “a cautionary tale for a generation… Billy McFarland offers us a window into the mind of a con artist, the insidious charm of the fraudster and how they can capture our imaginations, our investment, and our votes in the age of Trump.

“Our aim was to set the stage for a strange journey into the moral abyss of our digital age, going beyond the meme to show an ecosystem of enablers, driven by profit and willing to look the other way, for their own gain.”

Fyre Fraud, which is produced and distributed by The Cinemart, Hulu, Billboard and Mic, is available now on Hulu.