Panama Papers Feature in the Works for Netflix

BEVERLY HILLS: Netflix is teaming with John Wells Productions on a feature film inspired by Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the World’s Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money by Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer.

The streaming platform acquired the exclusive rights to the book, detailing the investigation led by Obermaier and Obermayer that uncovered details of how super-rich individuals held billions in offshore bank accounts through a little-known law firm in Panama.

Netflix is working with producers Wells and Claire Rudnick Polstein and executive producer Zach Studin of John Wells Productions on the feature film. Marina Walker, deputy director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and Gerard Ryle, who leads the ICIJ’s headquarters staff in Washington, D.C., will also collaborate on the feature.

“We are confident that between the expert investigative work of Obermaier and Obermayer, the only journalists in touch directly with John Doe, the ICIJ, and the master storytelling of John Wells Productions, we will be able to deliver a gripping tale that will deliver the same type of impact as the The Panama Papers when they were first revealed on the world’s front pages,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix.

Rudnick Polstein, John Wells Productions’s president of features, added, “We could not be more excited to be working with Netflix on this project. They have an excellent track record of producing top-notch filmmaking and together, we are very much looking forward to getting started on shedding light on one of the most compelling news stories in recent memory.”

Obermaier and Obermayer commented, “It all started with a ‘ping,’ when John Doe contacted us. That relationship and the work that came out of it grew to become the biggest data leak in history, and by far the biggest collaboration of journalists the world has ever seen; with over 400 journalists ultimately participating in this investigation. We are proud that our newspaper was the starting point for this story, which grew to be something monumental.”