'The Altruists' Trailer: Boyle and Garner as SBF, Ellison — SkimNews
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- Netflix released the trailer for "The Altruists," an eight-episode limited series premiering Nov. 19 that dramatizes the FTX collapse and allegations of $8 billion stolen from investors and customers.
- Anthony Boyle stars as Sam Bankman-Fried and Julia Garner as Caroline Ellison, with the show's official logline framing the pair as "two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists" who "tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye."
- Sam Bankman-Fried founded FTX in 2019 and was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, receiving a 25-year prison sentence, with the U.S. government alleging he cheated investors and customers out of upwards of $10 billion through FTX and Alameda Research.
- Caroline Ellison, the CEO of Alameda Research — an FTX-affiliated trading firm — was in a relationship with Bankman-Fried and stands at the center of the series' portrayal of the exchange's inner circle.
- The supporting cast includes Alex Lawther as Sam Trabucco, Karan Soni as Nishad Singh, Madison Hu as Constance Wang, Matt Rife as Ryan Salame, and Eugene Young as Gary Wang, plus Paul Reiser, Jennifer Grey, and William Mapother.
- The series was inspired by New York Magazine articles by Kevin T. Dugan and Jen Wieczner, and executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions alongside Graham Moore, Scoop Wasserstein for New York Magazine/Vox Media Studios, Garner, Tonia Davis, and James Ponsoldt.
Why it matters: With Higher Ground (the Obamas) and Julia Garner attached as prestige credentials, the Nov. 19 premiere positions Netflix to define the screen dramatization of the $8–10 billion FTX fraud, leaning on a "Gen Z Bonnie & Clyde" hook to reach viewers who watched the real-life collapse unfold.
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