She was a mom of two who’d gone from cocktail waitress to dancer to pay the bills. A cop’s daughter who’d always harbored dreams of fighting crime. And, for four and a half years, a confidential informant who helped the feds bring down a white supremacist behind a 2004 Scottsdale, Arizona, bombing that maimed a Black man — and who had plans to do much worse.
Now, in an exclusive interview with journalist Jeff Maysh on Substack, Rebecca Williams reveals her true identity and tells the wild story of...
Now, in an exclusive interview with journalist Jeff Maysh on Substack, Rebecca Williams reveals her true identity and tells the wild story of...
- 7/31/2022
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
HBO is telling the tale of one of the most super-sized scams of all time: the McDonald’s Monopoly game.
Based on a 2018 Daily Beast story by Jeff Maysh, McMillions is a six-part docuseries about ex-cop Jerry Jacobson, nicknamed Uncle Jerry, who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game for a decade — effectively stealing millions of dollars and building a network of wrongdoers across the U.S.
“This story has got everything,” a series of interviewees intone at the start of the trailer, “revenge, drugs, greed, Ronald McDonald.”
If you weren’t...
Based on a 2018 Daily Beast story by Jeff Maysh, McMillions is a six-part docuseries about ex-cop Jerry Jacobson, nicknamed Uncle Jerry, who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game for a decade — effectively stealing millions of dollars and building a network of wrongdoers across the U.S.
“This story has got everything,” a series of interviewees intone at the start of the trailer, “revenge, drugs, greed, Ronald McDonald.”
If you weren’t...
- 1/9/2020
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Ben Affleck will direct King Leopold’s Ghost, a fact-based drama about the plunder of the Congo by Belgium’s King Leopold II in the late 1800s. One Community, which co-financed Just Mercy, is financing development with an option to co-finance the film. Farhad Safinia (Apocalypto) is writing the script. Affleck is producing through his Pearl Street Films banner alongside Martin Scorsese and Emma Koskoff-Tillinger through his Sikelia Productions banner. Harry and Gina Belafonte are also producing, with Pearl Street’s Madison Ainley exec producing.
Safinia is basing his script on the Adam Hochschild book: King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa. The film covers an atrocious piece of history that is every bit as bad as the subtitle infers. Set at a moment when European countries were racing to find ways to carve up the natural resources of Africa, Leopold became...
Safinia is basing his script on the Adam Hochschild book: King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa. The film covers an atrocious piece of history that is every bit as bad as the subtitle infers. Set at a moment when European countries were racing to find ways to carve up the natural resources of Africa, Leopold became...
- 11/21/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Journalist Jeff Maysh (The Murder House) recently published a story that has lifted the lid on one of America’s most chilling paranormal events. “Hysteria High” is an in-depth investigation into a mass demonic possession at the Miami Aerospace Academy, a.k.a the “High School from Hell” – that will pique the interest of any horror fan. […]
The post Hysteria High (a.k.a the “High School from Hell”) is a Genre-Bending Combination of Horror & True Crime appeared first on Dread Central.
The post Hysteria High (a.k.a the “High School from Hell”) is a Genre-Bending Combination of Horror & True Crime appeared first on Dread Central.
- 11/10/2019
- by Josh Millican
- DreadCentral.com
Exclusive: Beating out bidders from several studios in a fevered auction, Sony Pictures has scored The Tree With Matchmaking Powers, an article in The Atlantic by Jeff Maysh. Peter Chiarelli (Crazy Rich Asians) will script a movie based on the true story of a German mailman who delivers love letters to a magical tree with matchmaking abilities. Producing will be Sugar23’s Michael Sugar (Spotlight), David Klawans (Argo), and Lawrence Grey (Lights Out).
The Bridegroom’s Oak is a 500-year-old tree in Germany. It is the only tree in the world with its own mailing address, and each day it receives dozens of lonely hearts letters. It has also become a popular gathering spot for the lovelorn, who come from everywhere to reach into a knothole in the trunk, hoping it spurs them to soon find a partner. Known as ‘the original Tinder,’ the tree is responsible for hundreds of marriages.
The Bridegroom’s Oak is a 500-year-old tree in Germany. It is the only tree in the world with its own mailing address, and each day it receives dozens of lonely hearts letters. It has also become a popular gathering spot for the lovelorn, who come from everywhere to reach into a knothole in the trunk, hoping it spurs them to soon find a partner. Known as ‘the original Tinder,’ the tree is responsible for hundreds of marriages.
- 6/26/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
In a heated auction with multiple studios bidding, Netflix won movie rights to Dr. Rapp, and already is eyeing for John Hamburg to write the script and direct the film. The Atlantic magazine article by Jeff Maysh was published in January under How a Stroke Turned a 63-Year-Old Into a Rap Legend. It became the year’s first heated material acquisition.
David Klawans (Argo) will produce with Michael Sugar (Spotlight) and Ashley Zalta through Sugar23’s first-look Netflix deal.
Article tells the story of Dr. Sherman Hershfield, a respected neurologist from Beverly Hills who practiced medicine in the San Fernando Valley. When Hershfield suffered a stroke, an unusual side effect changed his life forever: He couldn’t stop speaking in rhyme. Remarkably, Hershfield then emerged in South Central as a freestyle performer, Dr. Rapp.
Hamburg’s scripting credits include Night School and Little Fockers. Films he has directed include Along Came Polly,...
David Klawans (Argo) will produce with Michael Sugar (Spotlight) and Ashley Zalta through Sugar23’s first-look Netflix deal.
Article tells the story of Dr. Sherman Hershfield, a respected neurologist from Beverly Hills who practiced medicine in the San Fernando Valley. When Hershfield suffered a stroke, an unusual side effect changed his life forever: He couldn’t stop speaking in rhyme. Remarkably, Hershfield then emerged in South Central as a freestyle performer, Dr. Rapp.
Hamburg’s scripting credits include Night School and Little Fockers. Films he has directed include Along Came Polly,...
- 1/31/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
After a bidding war that involved several studios and production companies, Netflix has won the film rights to an Atlantic magazine story about Dr. Rapp, a 63-year-old doctor-turned-freestyle rapper.
Author Jeff Maysh’s story “How a Stroke Turned a 63-Year-Old Into a Rap Legend” was published on Jan. 16 and sparked the first major rights auction of 2019.
It describes the life of Dr. Sherman Hershfield, a respected neurologist from Beverly Hills, who practiced medicine in California’s San Fernando Valley. When Hershfield suffered a stroke, an unusual side effect changed his life forever: He couldn’t stop speaking in rhyme. Remarkably, Hershfield then emerged in South Central as a freestyle performer, “Dr. Rapp.”
Also Read: 'Fuller House' Renewed for Fifth and Final Season on Netflix: Watch the Farewell Announcement (Video)
David Klawans (“Argo”) will produce with Michael Sugar (“Spotlight”) and Ashley Zalta through Sugar23’s first-look Netflix deal.
This...
Author Jeff Maysh’s story “How a Stroke Turned a 63-Year-Old Into a Rap Legend” was published on Jan. 16 and sparked the first major rights auction of 2019.
It describes the life of Dr. Sherman Hershfield, a respected neurologist from Beverly Hills, who practiced medicine in California’s San Fernando Valley. When Hershfield suffered a stroke, an unusual side effect changed his life forever: He couldn’t stop speaking in rhyme. Remarkably, Hershfield then emerged in South Central as a freestyle performer, “Dr. Rapp.”
Also Read: 'Fuller House' Renewed for Fifth and Final Season on Netflix: Watch the Farewell Announcement (Video)
David Klawans (“Argo”) will produce with Michael Sugar (“Spotlight”) and Ashley Zalta through Sugar23’s first-look Netflix deal.
This...
- 1/31/2019
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Recently, when we reported that Ben Affleck and Fox had picked up the rights to the McDonald’s Monopoly scam story that Jeff Maysh wrote about for The Daily Beast, we noted that it must’ve involved a “really fast and really intense bidding war” since Affleck and Fox had snatched up the rights just a few days after the…...
- 8/12/2018
- by Sam Barsanti on News, shared by Sam Barsanti to The A.V. Club
- avclub.com
Exclusive: Mark Wahlberg’s Unrealistic Ideas has signed on to produce McMillions, a true crime original documentary series that chronicles the extraordinary story of the rigged McDonald’s monopoly game.
The limited docuseries, which producers plan to shop to broadcast and cable networks and is in development, reveals the entire outrageous account of the McDonald’s Monopoly game scam as told by the participants in the case, including the prizewinners and the FBI agents who nabbed Jerry Jacobson, a former police officer, who was found to be at the heart of the complicated scheme. It also will include archival footage shot by the agents as part of their sting operation.
Last week, as Deadline exclusively reported, Fox won the ferocious bidding war for film rights to Jeff Maysh’s Daily Beast article that chronicled the scam, with Ben Affleck attached to direct and Matt Damon to star.
Unrealistic Ideas, the...
The limited docuseries, which producers plan to shop to broadcast and cable networks and is in development, reveals the entire outrageous account of the McDonald’s Monopoly game scam as told by the participants in the case, including the prizewinners and the FBI agents who nabbed Jerry Jacobson, a former police officer, who was found to be at the heart of the complicated scheme. It also will include archival footage shot by the agents as part of their sting operation.
Last week, as Deadline exclusively reported, Fox won the ferocious bidding war for film rights to Jeff Maysh’s Daily Beast article that chronicled the scam, with Ben Affleck attached to direct and Matt Damon to star.
Unrealistic Ideas, the...
- 8/11/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are teaming up again for a McMovie. That's right, the best friends are making a movie about the man who managed to rig the biannual McDonald's Monopoly game back in 2001.
Jeff Maysh wrote and published the true-crime report for The Daily Beast on July 28. The article tells the story of ex-cop Jerome Jacobson, who used his job as a security officer at the firm that printed the game pieces to rig the Monopoly game. Over several years, Jacobson managed to steal over $24 million and share it with his network of "mobsters, psychics, strip-club owners, and drug traffickers."
The movie will follow the FBI operation titled "Operation Final Answer" that worked to uncover the criminal ring. Damon is tapped to star in the film with Affleck attached to direct. Both actors will produce through their Pearl Street banner with Maysh and David Klawans to be executive producers.
Jeff Maysh wrote and published the true-crime report for The Daily Beast on July 28. The article tells the story of ex-cop Jerome Jacobson, who used his job as a security officer at the firm that printed the game pieces to rig the Monopoly game. Over several years, Jacobson managed to steal over $24 million and share it with his network of "mobsters, psychics, strip-club owners, and drug traffickers."
The movie will follow the FBI operation titled "Operation Final Answer" that worked to uncover the criminal ring. Damon is tapped to star in the film with Affleck attached to direct. Both actors will produce through their Pearl Street banner with Maysh and David Klawans to be executive producers.
- 8/5/2018
- by Mekishana Pierre
- Popsugar.com
The Dynamic Duo, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, are teaming up for a movie centered around an ex-cop who rigged McDonald's Monopoly game to make off with millions in real money. The project is based on a recent article published by Daily Beast reporter Jeff Maysh, and will center around an FBI investigation into uncovering the underground criminal organization run by an individual named "Uncle... Read More...
- 8/2/2018
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Fox is developing a film about the true story of how an ex-cop rigged the McDonald's Monopoly game and stole millions of dollars. Ben Affleck is set to direct the film and Matt Damon will star. To make this project even better, the writers behind the Deadpool films, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, will write the script.
The studio won the movie rights to Jeff Maysh’s true-crime tale that was recently published in the Daily Beast. The story details how Michael Hoover claimed he had won the $1 million grand prize after collecting Monopoly pieces and a camera crew was dispatched to his home in Rhode Island. Here's a little description of what went down from the story:
"The camera crew listened patiently to his rambling story, silently recognizing the inconsequential details found in stories told by liars. They suspected that Hoover was not a lucky winner, but part...
The studio won the movie rights to Jeff Maysh’s true-crime tale that was recently published in the Daily Beast. The story details how Michael Hoover claimed he had won the $1 million grand prize after collecting Monopoly pieces and a camera crew was dispatched to his home in Rhode Island. Here's a little description of what went down from the story:
"The camera crew listened patiently to his rambling story, silently recognizing the inconsequential details found in stories told by liars. They suspected that Hoover was not a lucky winner, but part...
- 8/2/2018
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Fox is developing “How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions” as a movie with Ben Affleck attached to direct and Matt Damon starring.
The studio won the movie rights to Jeff Maysh’s true-crime story, recently published in the Daily Beast, which detailed how an ex-cop rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game in 2001, allegedly stealing millions of dollars.
Damon and Affleck will produce through their Pearl Street company. The “Deadpool” writing team of Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese has been hired to write the script.
The auction was handled by Ipg’s Joel Gotler, who repped Maysh. David Klawans is exec producing.
The story describes how Michael Hoover claimed he had won the $1 million grand prize after collecting Monopoly pieces and a camera crew was dispatched to his home in Rhode Island.
“The camera crew listened patiently to his rambling story, silently recognizing the inconsequential details...
The studio won the movie rights to Jeff Maysh’s true-crime story, recently published in the Daily Beast, which detailed how an ex-cop rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game in 2001, allegedly stealing millions of dollars.
Damon and Affleck will produce through their Pearl Street company. The “Deadpool” writing team of Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese has been hired to write the script.
The auction was handled by Ipg’s Joel Gotler, who repped Maysh. David Klawans is exec producing.
The story describes how Michael Hoover claimed he had won the $1 million grand prize after collecting Monopoly pieces and a camera crew was dispatched to his home in Rhode Island.
“The camera crew listened patiently to his rambling story, silently recognizing the inconsequential details...
- 8/2/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Fox is poised to win the hot lit property in the marketplace at the moment, a giant Happy Meal that everyone wanted. Ben Affleck is attached to direct, and Matt Damon to star in a true crime story written by Jeff Maysh and published in The Daily Beast several days ago on an ex-cop who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game, allegedly stealing over $24 million dollars and sharing it with an unsavory group of co-conspirators who offered kickbacks to the mastermind. The Pearl Street partners will produce, and the Deadpool scribes Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese will write the script.
Sources said that bidding was ferocious for Maysh’s How An Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game And Stole Millions. Lining up to bid were Universal for Kevin Hart, Warner Bros for John Requa & Glenn Ficarra and Steve Carell and producer Andrew Lazar, and Netflix, which bid for producing partners Eric Newman & Bryan Unkeless,...
Sources said that bidding was ferocious for Maysh’s How An Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game And Stole Millions. Lining up to bid were Universal for Kevin Hart, Warner Bros for John Requa & Glenn Ficarra and Steve Carell and producer Andrew Lazar, and Netflix, which bid for producing partners Eric Newman & Bryan Unkeless,...
- 8/2/2018
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are partnering for a movie about how a former cop rigged the McDonald's Monopoly game to steal millions.
Based on a recently published Daily Beast report by Jeff Maysh, the movie will follow the FBI operation to uncover the underground criminal ring, run by someone named "Uncle Jerry," who used his job as a security officer at the firm that printed the game pieces to defraud the fast food's annual promotion of $24 million in prize money over several years.
Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the writers behind Fox's ...
Based on a recently published Daily Beast report by Jeff Maysh, the movie will follow the FBI operation to uncover the underground criminal ring, run by someone named "Uncle Jerry," who used his job as a security officer at the firm that printed the game pieces to defraud the fast food's annual promotion of $24 million in prize money over several years.
Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the writers behind Fox's ...
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are partnering for a movie about how a former cop rigged the McDonald's Monopoly game to steal millions.
Based on a recently published Daily Beast report by Jeff Maysh, the movie will follow the FBI operation to uncover the underground criminal ring, run by someone named "Uncle Jerry," who used his job as a security officer at the firm that printed the game pieces to defraud the fast food's annual promotion of $24 million in prize money over several years.
Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the writers behind Fox's ...
Based on a recently published Daily Beast report by Jeff Maysh, the movie will follow the FBI operation to uncover the underground criminal ring, run by someone named "Uncle Jerry," who used his job as a security officer at the firm that printed the game pieces to defraud the fast food's annual promotion of $24 million in prize money over several years.
Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the writers behind Fox's ...
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Fox Searchlight has bought the rights to “The Spy With No Name,” an ebook written by Jeff Maysh and published by Amazon Kindle Single, Deadline reports. Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert of Emjag Productions will produce alongside “Argo” executive producer David Klawans.
Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: Grasshopper Film Gets ‘Escapes,’ Amazon and IFC Films Date ‘City of Ghosts’ and More
The true story centers on Erwin van Haarlem, a Cold War secret agent who stole the identity of a Dutch man whose mother had given him up for adoption. The Communist spy pretended to be Johanna van Haarlem’s long lost son for 11 years before being caught.
– FilmRise has acquired the U.S. rights to Michael Almereyda’s “Marjorie Prime,...
– Fox Searchlight has bought the rights to “The Spy With No Name,” an ebook written by Jeff Maysh and published by Amazon Kindle Single, Deadline reports. Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert of Emjag Productions will produce alongside “Argo” executive producer David Klawans.
Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: Grasshopper Film Gets ‘Escapes,’ Amazon and IFC Films Date ‘City of Ghosts’ and More
The true story centers on Erwin van Haarlem, a Cold War secret agent who stole the identity of a Dutch man whose mother had given him up for adoption. The Communist spy pretended to be Johanna van Haarlem’s long lost son for 11 years before being caught.
– FilmRise has acquired the U.S. rights to Michael Almereyda’s “Marjorie Prime,...
- 3/31/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Fox Searchlight has acquired the rights to The Spy With No Name, a Jeff Maysh eBook published under the Amazon Kindle Single label. Emjag’s Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert will produce alongside Argo‘s David Klawans. The book tells the true story of Erwin van Haarlem, a Cold War secret agent whose stolen identity broke the heart of an innocent woman who thought she'd found her long-lost son. When Johanna van Haarlem finally tracked down the son she was…...
- 3/28/2017
- Deadline
Paramount Pictures has appointed Iron Man 3 scribe Drew Pearce to pen the screenplay for The Wedding Sting, a fact-based cop comedy that involves undercover detectives and elaborately staged matrimonial ceremonies.
Deadline has the scoop, revealing that the studio’s pitch takes inspiration from an article in The Atlantic from earlier this year. Jeff Maysh’s piece recounts a 1990 wedding ceremony, one which seen a pair of rural Michigan cops posing as newlyweds in order to attract every drug dealer in town under the one roof. It was considered a clandestine and effective means of quelling the power of dealers in the area, as they peddled cocaine, marijuana, LSD, and prescription pills, and even inspired the police force to stage similar fake weddings in the years that followed.
Deemed to be one of the worst cities to live in America during the 1980s, Flint, Michigan was caught in the throes...
Deadline has the scoop, revealing that the studio’s pitch takes inspiration from an article in The Atlantic from earlier this year. Jeff Maysh’s piece recounts a 1990 wedding ceremony, one which seen a pair of rural Michigan cops posing as newlyweds in order to attract every drug dealer in town under the one roof. It was considered a clandestine and effective means of quelling the power of dealers in the area, as they peddled cocaine, marijuana, LSD, and prescription pills, and even inspired the police force to stage similar fake weddings in the years that followed.
Deemed to be one of the worst cities to live in America during the 1980s, Flint, Michigan was caught in the throes...
- 12/9/2015
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Exclusive: Paramount Pictures has set Drew Pearce to adapt The Wedding Sting, a fact-based story about an elaborately staged fake wedding in which two undercover Michigan cops posed as newlyweds and brought together every drug dealer in their orbit so they could all be arrested en masse. The film will be produced by Mary Parent’s Disruption banner, and it is based on a May article in The Atlantic by Jeff Maysh. Geoff Stier is overseeing for Paramount. Pearce, who is…...
- 12/8/2015
- Deadline
Just in time for Halloween, The Coalition Group and writer Joshua Malkin are developing a film around the infamous Los Feliz Murder Mansion that will be based on a popular Medium.com article written by Jeff Maysh, TheWrap has learned. The true story centers around the infamous home on Glendower Place in Los Feliz, California where, according to legend, a man killed his wife and attempted to murder his small children before poisoning himself. Even more frightening is the fact that the home has not been lived in or touched for more than 50 years, and many relics from that fateful night.
- 10/30/2015
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
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