IP Finds 🔎: If You Like 'Stranger Things', 'Spotlight' and 'The Shield'...
...you'll love today's choices, which also include a dramatic R. Kelly crusader and a new world à la 'Avatar'
Welcome to The Optionist! As always, thanks for reading. Special thanks to the many Ankler readers who signed up a for a paid subscription last week after getting a sample of The Optionist in their inboxes. I’m happy to report we have a nice mix of award-winning producers and executives from film and TV who’ve signed up. In other words, you’re in good company if you’re reading this. Also, the number of projects getting optioned out of this newsletter just keeps growing, which tells me more than anything else, you’re finding value in this newsletter — which makes me thrilled!
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I can’t imagine a more off-putting and groan-inducing headline than this recent Esquire piece: The Crypto Revolution Wants to Reimagine Books. As you know, I’m a big fan of new modes of publishing in both journalism and books, and I believe there are crowdfunding models that can be good for lots of authors — both newbies and established ones. But tying books to crypto (especially at this moment in the crypto crash) makes me wonder what was going on in the headline writer’s brain. (The actual article is better than the headline, FWIW). Though there is a great WeCrashed/The Dropout story waiting to be done out of crypto that I wrote about here.
Now on to this week's picks. We’re a little top-heavy with true crime and corrupt cops (and their whistleblowers) this week. But they’re all fascinating stories, including a way to revisit the R. Kelly story, which was a blockbuster for Lifetime a few years back. And if none of those are for you, we’ve got an addicting ’80s-set horror for anyone looking to try to capture some of that Stranger Things magic. Read on!