EXCLUSIVE: The extraordinary exploits of convicted fraudster Russell King will be recounted in King of All Cons (WT), a feature doc that has just gone into production. Emmy-nominated Dash Pictures is making the film with Sky in the UK and Matthew Lorenzo Productions, the indie set up by the titular Lorenzo, a former Sky Sports presenter.
Individuals who King duped included Sven Goran Eriksson, the one-time England soccer team manager, as part of an infamous scheme to buy Notts County, the world’s oldest soccer club. The film will use a mix of archive and interviews with the main players on the story, including Eriksson — who disclosed a terminal cancer diagnosis in January. Former England soccer star Sol Campbell also features.
King’s other nefarious exploits include negotiating a deal to extract all of North Korea’s mineral reserves. The action in the film moves between Bahrain, North Korea, London’s plush Dorchester Hotel, the UK’s financial district and Meadow Lane, the humble home of Notts County.
Lorenzo, a well-known face to UK sports fans as a former presenter on Sky Sports, has a personal connection with the King of All Cons story because the fraudster at one time recruited him to handle his PR.
Lorenzo’s production banner and Dash have worked together previously on projects including Hurst: The First and Only about England World Cup winning soccer captain Geoff Hurst, which also played on Sky. “We work well together and between us we have the right skills to get the most out of a huge story: to bring out the drama and the emotion, and to give some of King’s victims a chance to have their say,” he said.
Dash founder Daniel Sharp exec produces. “Leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Russell King committed fraud after fraud, each one more fantastical than the last,” he said. “This is documentary gold – comical, shocking, occasionally horrific but always entertaining and constantly underwritten by a sense of malice and lack of empathy.”
The film will bow on Sky Documentaries in the UK and on Sky streaming service NOW. The extraordinary tale of King’s activities “at first appears like it could only be a work of fiction,” said Jack Oliver, Head of Co-Productions at the pay TV giant. “But it really happened, and Matt was there as it all unraveled… we can’t wait to see this complex and character-driven documentary come to life.”
The post Dash Pictures Making ‘The King Of All Cons’ With Matthew Lorenzo And Sky; Feature Doc Will Recount Exploits Of A Fraudster Who Duped Bankers & Former England Soccer Manager appeared first on Deadline.
