An Internet misanthrope launches a message board for amateur stock pickers, gets started, and then watches from afar as this dishonest community brings Wall Street to its knees.
This is the hot move that has made Jaime Rogozinski the man that every Hollywood producer wants to do business with. Earlier this week, the founder of Reddit’s WallStreetBets sold the rights to his life story to RatPac Entertainment, a production company known for supporting hits like “Wonder Woman”.
A cinematic version of Rogozinski’s story will get things started and then move on to podcasts and other media, say the producers of RatPac.
In exchange for a payment of just six digits, Rogozinski gave exclusive access to the producers of RatPac – including the head of the company, Brett Ratner, a longtime Hollywood player who recently lost a big deal amid accusations of sexual harassment. They want to dramatize the story of their role in the WallStreetBets saga, which sent stocks from struggling companies like GameStop Corp.
GME 2.68%
The sudden increase has led hedge funds to devastating losses and turned unlikely investors into big winners and losers.
Rogozinski is already talking to writers that RatPac is considering to write the script for the film.
“Maybe I can get on the red carpet,” he said.
The race started to bring the WallStreetBets saga to the screen. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. acquired a book proposal on events written by Ben Mezrich, whose previous books were adapted for the films “21” and “The Social Network”. Netflix Inc.
is in talks with “Zero Dark Thirty” screenwriter Mark Boal about a film that would star young heartthrob Noah Centineo from “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”.
Ratner said his company is self-financing the project and that the access he now has to Rogozinski gives his project an edge.
“Anyone can go and make a movie about junk bonds, but if Mike Milken cooperates, how much more knowledge will you have?” he said, referring to the financier known for developing high-yield bonds, or junk, and an insider scandal that resulted in his prison sentence.
Rogozinski, who says he has no opinion on which actor should play him in the film, said he had been stunned for the past two weeks. In addition to phone calls to his parents’ home and news coverage from as far away as his sister’s home in Israel, he received messages from Hollywood producers eager to strike a deal on the rights of his life.
In just five days, GameStop’s stock soared up to 500%. WSJ looked at how Reddit posts, videos on YouTube and tweets from personalities, including Elon Musk, spread online and fueled a trading craze that turned Wall Street upside down. Photo illustration: George Downs / WSJ
Ensuring the rights of life of a person whose story would make an attractive film or TV show is an increasingly popular tactic for producers who want an edge when competing with other filmmakers eager for a great story. The agreement generally grants exclusive access to the subject, as well as diaries, photos and other memorabilia that can embody the story.
In the case of Rogozinski, producers have the right to adapt their story in any conceivable way – podcast, documentary, TV series or even live theater as a play.
The deal closed quickly, said Rogozinski. Shortly after appearing in several news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Rogozinski was bombarded by messages from producers. Busy juggling media interviews with his daily work and father duties, Rogozinski asked his brother, Joel Rogozinski, for help.
Joel Rogozinski reached out to a childhood friend, Michael Smith Liss, who he knew was well connected in Hollywood. In turn, Mr. Smith Liss was able to introduce the brothers to Mr. Ratner.
Mr. Ratner directed the “Rush Hour” and “X-Men: The Last Stand” trilogy, but more recently he has been known as the co-financier of several major AT&T releases. Inc.’s
Warner Bros, including “Jersey Boys” and “Justice League”.
Brett Ratner in 2017.
Photograph:
danny moloshok / Reuters
His contract with the studio was dissolved in 2017 after several women accused him of assault and sexual harassment. Ratner denied the accusers’ charges, including actress Olivia Munn. There were no charges against Mr. Ratner.
He has maintained a relatively low profile since then, saying he has been producing documentaries without earning the nominated credits. He discovered the story of WallStreetBets, he said, after several friends from the hedge fund world told him about its importance. One of his best friends, he said, is Jordan Belfort, the former low-cost stockbroker whose slump in investment was told in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street”.
“This story is such a human story of power and uprising, capitalism and socialism, and more,” he said.
Rogozinski hopes the film will move beyond last month’s GameStop saga to showcase the entire WallStreetBets journey, showing viewers how a small Reddit forum he founded in 2012 has become a multi-million dollar community at the center of the controversy. He also plans to share the lows of his time with WallStreetBets. Rogozinski was kicked out of his role as moderator last spring, something he says has affected him for a long time.
“I’m putting everything on the table. There will be some extremely shocking things, things that people don’t know about me, ”he said.
He is no stranger to the reaction. In recent weeks, Reddit users who are bitter about their old role on WallStreetBets have written posts criticizing him. Some people even went to Amazon to leave negative reviews of their book.
News of the film’s contract could ignite tensions. But Rogozinski said he learned not to feed trolls.
“I won. They can pretend to have this battle,” he said.
Write to Erich Schwartzel at [email protected] and Akane Otani at [email protected]
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