BBC Arts commissioned Wonderhood Studios' "The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood"

BBC Arts has commissioned Wonderhood Studios to produce "The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood’, a 1x 90 feature documentary directed by BAFTA-winning John Dower which tells the inside story of a scandal that rocked Hollywood. The documentary is produced in association with global film and TV studio Fifth Season, which will also handle global distribution.

When a former waiter turned movie mogul, Giancarlo Parretti, buys the legendary MGM/UA (the studio behind The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and the James Bond franchise) for $1.3 billion in 1990, everyone hopes this charismatic Italian, with a mysterious mountain of cash to spend, will make the lion roar again. But within weeks, the 17th James Bond movie is put on ice, pay cheques to Dustin Hoffman and Sylvester Stallone bounce, and hundreds of MGM/UA staff are fired. Parretti soon faces an FBI investigation for alleged financial irregularities and his ownership of Hollywood’s most famous studio spirals out of control. 

With access to MGM insiders involved in the deal, Hollywood directors, actors and writers and Giancarlo Parretti himself, ‘The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood’, unpacks one of Hollywood’s biggest scandals blow by blow. 

As lawsuits and criminal charges rain down, Parretti leaves the USA just days before he is due to be sentenced for perjury and falsifying documents. International arrest warrants are issued but Parretti is already back in his home country of Italy. 

Now, Giancarlo Parretti, gives his own account of his tumultuous days as the head of MGM. He also reveals his meteoric yet often mysterious rise from waiting on tables to becoming one of most powerful studio bosses in Hollywood. The film also features interviews with federal prosecutors, actors, directors, and MGM insiders speaking out for the first time, who give the inside take on one of Hollywood’s craziest, untold stories.

As Federal Prosecutors and the FBI began to investigate, they uncover an international web of corruption and bribes which stretches beyond the MGM deal and eventually contributes to the collapse of Europe’s biggest bank. A charismatic and larger than life character, Giancarlo Parretti has always denied wrongdoing against him and now reveals what it was like to be the man at the centre of Hollywood’s biggest scandal and being pursued by law enforcement agencies from across the globe. 

Filmed in locations in Los Angeles, Rome, Melbourne, London, New York and Orvieto in Italy, "The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood" is a romp through one of the murkiest chapters in Hollywood’s recent history and blows the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes of some of Hollywood’s greatest films.

Wonderhood Studios Chief Creative Officer Samantha Anstiss highlighted the references and the particularities of the case portrayed in the film: “John Dower’s entertaining and intelligent feature documentary tells the story of an enigmatic former waiter who both beguiled and bewildered Hollywood. The film is playfully and profoundly peppered with cinematic references and is a provocative and mischievous love letter to the crazy world of entertainment we inhabit. It’s also a story about the fame machine and money with dire consequences as the story ends with collapse of the French national bank," noted.

Alistair Pegg, Commissioning Editor for BBC Arts celebrates that it was included in the company's catalog: “John Dower’s wonderful film is a brilliant addition to BBC Arts’ slate of films unpacking contemporary culture – a fable about the magnetic allure of Hollywood, and a true insider account of one of the strangest stories that ever unfolded behind the cameras," commented.

Finally, Liz Tang, Executive Director of Acquisitions at Fifth Season commended the director's work: “We’re thrilled to partner with Bafta-winning Director John Dower and the incredible team at Wonderhood Studios to tell audiences the story of the biggest Hollywood scandal that nobody knew about, until now. MGM is an iconic household name, bringing us the best hits and stars in film & TV for a century… but imagine if it had collapsed and the last 30 years of cinematic history never happened? This stranger than fiction story will leave viewers gripped as they learn how one of the most fabled US film studios fell into near bankruptcy after Giancarlo Parretti’s take-over. Some of the most anticipated movies of all time nearly never saw the light of day, some of the biggest names in Hollywood had to wait for weeks for their wages, and France’s biggest state-owned bank, Credit Lyonnais, crashed – and now with access to Giancarlo Parretti, we can’t wait for the world to enjoy this entertaining, rollercoaster ride of a doc," stated.