EPIX® GREENLIGHTS ‘FIASCO’ TO SERIES

Leon Neyfakh to Host Six-Episode Docuseries from the Creators of ‘Slow Burn’

Based on His Podcast of the Same Name

New York, NY – October 5, 2020 – Premium network EPIX® has greenlit Fiasco, a new documentary series about politics, power, and uncertainty. Fiasco, from Prologue Projects and Left/Right, adapts host and executive producer Leon Neyfakh’s podcast of the same name. The six-episode docuseries marks the second partnership for Neyfakh, Left/Right and EPIX, following the acclaimed Slow Burn – an incisive look at the Watergate crisis – earlier this year. Currently in production, Fiasco will debut on EPIX in 2021.

In Fiasco, Neyfakh will transport listeners into the day-to-day reality of our country’s most pivotal historical events, bringing to life the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present. Season One of Fiasco will tell the story of the Iran-Contra affair, the Cold War-era debacle — involving a secret war in Nicaragua and an arms-for-hostages deal with Iran — that almost took down the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Fiasco is produced by Neyfakh’s Prologue Projects, and Left/Right.   The podcast is available exclusively on Luminary. Neyfakh, Andrew Parsons, and Steven Fisher serve as executive producers, along with Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver, and John Marks for Left/Right, a Red Arrow Studios company.

Leon Neyfakh is the host of Fiasco and co-creator of Slow Burn, as well as the founder of Prologue Projects, an independent podcast studio. Neyfakh started his reporting career at the New York Observer before joining The Boston Globe. At Slate, he wrote about the criminal justice system before co-creating Slow Burn with Andrew Parsons. Neyfakh is the author of The Next Next Level, a critically-acclaimed book about the choice between life as an artist and the stability of a nine-to-five job.

Andrew Parsons is an award-winning audio producer and the executive producer of Prologue Projects. His work has been featured on Marketplace, Studio 360, and Snap Judgment, among other outlets. He’s been the senior producer at the history podcast BackStory and co-created and produced the first two seasons of the Slate podcast Slow Burn. He’s lectured and taught at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and serves on the Google/PRX podcast creator advisory committee.

Steven Fisher is a partner in Underground, a management and production company. In addition to managing Leon Neyfakh and Prologue Projects, Fisher most recently Executive Produced the Comedy Central special DESI LYDIC: A BROAD (nominated for a WGA Award), and the short form series OH JEROME, NO for FX (lead actor Mamoudou Athie was nominated for an Emmy). In addition, Underground’s credits include Snowfall on FX, HEATHERS for Paramount Network, the upcoming GAME CHANGER for Netflix, DRAGON’S LAIR for Netflix starring Ryan Reynolds, the sports docuseries DREAM TEAM at BET, and the independent film SMALL ENGINE REPAIR.

ABOUT PROLOGUE PROJECTS

Prologue Projects is an independent production company specializing in audio journalism. Prologue was founded in 2019 by the co-creators of Slow Burn. Since that time, the studio has built a slate of original podcasts, including Fiasco; The Trevor Noah Podcast; The Edge, a narrative series about the Houston Astros cheating scandal hosted by Ben Reiter; 5-4, a weekly talk show about the Supreme Court; and Whirlwind, a series about the Cold War hosted by Tim Weiner.

ABOUT LEFT/RIGHT

LEFT/RIGHT has produced hundreds of hours of television in an extraordinarily eclectic mix of genres ranging from hard-hitting documentaries to side-splitting comedies, covering topics from sex to secret societies to stand-up comedy to science fiction to school segregation.  Past and present productions include our groundbreaking political series THE CIRCUS (Showtime), multiple episodes of the acclaimed investigative series FRONTLINE (PBS), our award-winning TV adaptation of the popular public radio show THIS AMERICAN LIFE (Showtime), and the New York Times documentary series THE WEEKLY and THE NEW YORK TIMES PRESENTS (FX and Hulu).  Our shows have been nominated for numerous Emmy® Awards and have won multiple awards, including a Peabody® and the Emmy® for Best Nonfiction Series.  Left/Right is a Red Arrow Studios company.

ABOUT EPIX®

EPIX®, an MGM company, is a premium television network delivering a broad line-up of quality original series and documentaries, the latest movie releases and classic film franchises – all available on TV, on demand, online and across devices. EPIX® has tripled the amount of original programming on the network and has become a destination for original premium content with series including Godfather of Harlem, starring and executive produced by Forest Whitaker; Pennyworth, the origin story of Batman’s butler Alfred; Perpetual Grace, LTD, starring Sir Ben Kingsley; spy thriller Deep StateWar of the Worlds, from Howard Overman and starring Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern; two-part music docuseries Laurel Canyon; docuseries Slow Burn based on the hit podcast, docuseries NFL: The Grind, from NFL Films and hosted by Rich Eisen; Belgravia, from Julian Fellowes, Gareth Neame and the creative team from Downton Abbey and six-part docuseries Helter Skelter: An American Myth, executive produced and directed by Lesley Chilcott; six-part docuseries Enslaved featuring Hollywood icon and human rights activist Samuel L. Jackson; season two of epic fantasy drama series Britannia  as well as upcoming premieres of drama Chapelwaitebased on the short story Jerusalem’s Lot by Stephen King and starring Academy Award winner Adrien Brody and music docuseries By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem. Launched in October 2009, EPIX® is available nationwide through cable, telco, satellite and emerging digital distribution platforms as well as through its EPIX NOW app, providing more movies than any other network with thousands of titles available for streaming.

For more information about EPIX, go to www.EPIX.com. Follow EPIX on Twitter @EpixHd (http://www.twitter.com/EpixHD) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EPIX), YouTube (http://youtube.com/EPIX), Instagram (http://instagram.com/EPIX) and Snapchat @EPIXTV.

Contact:

Maureen Granados

mgranados@epix.com