Amazon Prime has ordered a finance and economy-themed docuseries from Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and NPR business journalist Adam Davidson.
The untitled series, which doesn’t have a premiere date, will be hosted by Kal Penn.
Penn, an actor and former White House Associate Director of Public Engagement, will take viewers around the world to meet the geniuses, madmen and hucksters who make the decisions — and investments — that change our lives. From cryptocurrency and money laundering to death and corruption, the series will explore how money, greed and power affect our hyper-connected world.
“Adam McKay is well known for finding the humor and absurdity in mind-blowing true stories, and we’re excited to bring that to Prime members with this series,” said Heather Schuster, head of Unscripted, Amazon Originals. “As with all of our unscripted series, we are committed to providing our customers with unprecedented access–this time to the fascinating, and often illusive back rooms of global wealth and industry.”
The series is executive produced by Ferrell, McKay, Kevin Messick, Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman and Aliyah Silverstein, and produced by Intellectual Property Corporation and Gary Sanchez Productions. Davidson is a co-executive producer, and Penn is a consulting producer. Davidson, who hosts NPR’s Planet Money podcast, consulted on McKay’s film “The Big Short,” about the 2008 financial crisis.
“Look, I’m terrible at math and really good at sophomoric humor (that means dick jokes, kids!), so the idea that we can explore economics around the world by visiting places like a dildo factory in California piqued my interest,” said Penn. “To have an opportunity to explore the world while we combine the serious with the bizarre with Adam and Will is super exciting.”