Russell King Documentary in the Works

Dash Pictures, Matthew Lorenzo Productions and Sky have begun production for The King of All Cons (w.t.), a documentary on fraudster Russell King.

Set to land on Sky Documentaries and NOW in 2025, the Sky original film is set in the ’90s and recounts the exploits of King, who fooled a bank, bought a football club and negotiated a trillion-dollar deal to extract all of North Korea’s mineral reserves.

Former Sky Sports presenter turned producer Matt Lorenzo had been hired by Russell to handle his PR at the time.

Jack Oliver, head of co-productions at Sky, said, “We’re very excited to be co-producing The King of All Cons which at first appears like it could only be a work of fiction. But it really happened, and Matt was there as it all unravelled. Working with Matt again after our success with Hurst: The First And Only, also produced by Dash, and The United Way with Eric Cantona has been great. We can’t wait to see this complex and character-driven documentary come to life.”

Lorenzo, executive producer, added, “I’ve been collaborating with Daniel and the Dash team for a good few years now. 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. I think Sky have established a deserved reputation for making some of the best documentaries out there at the moment, and it’s good to be working with them once again.”

Daniel Sharp, executive producer, said, “Leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Russell King committed fraud after fraud, each one more fantastical than the last. This is documentary gold—comical, shocking, occasionally horrific but always entertaining and constantly underwritten by a sense of malice and lack of empathy.”