Why investigative journalism is a goldmine for star-studded TV

Ask the cast of Inventing Anna how they first heard the story of Anna Sorokin — the Russian scam artist who posed as a wealthy German socialite and swindled New York's elite — and they'll usually give a similar answer. 

"The first time I heard about this story was [through] The Cut article by Jessica Pressler," actor Julia Garner, who plays Sorokin, told CBC News. "And I reacted like how the whole world reacted about that article; I was like, 'Woah! This article's amazing. This story's amazing.'"

Inventing Anna, which premieres Friday on Netflix, is based on a May 2018 article by journalist Jessica Pressler published in The Cut, the culture and lifestyle vertical of New York Magazine. Pressler's article quickly went viral, becoming the magazine's third most-engaged digital story of the entire year.

Just a month later, TV mogul Shonda Rhimes and her production company Shondaland had optioned it for a Netflix adaptation.

WATCH | The cast of Inventing Anna discuss the magazine-inspired miniseries:

"I remember the headlines," said Arian Moayed, who plays Sorokin's lawyer, Todd Spodek. "I remember, 'Soho grifter,' I remember 'fake German heiress'." Moayed read the series' script and Pressler's article before accepting the role.

And Laverne Cox, who plays Kacy Duke, a member of Sorokin's inner circle, said she knew a bit about Sorokin from a news report — "and so I read the Jessica Pressler article and was like, 'Woah! What is this!' I just became literally obsessed and started reading everything I could get my hands on."

The show follows Sorokin (also known by her adopted last name, Delvey) from Paris Fashion Week to Ibiza, Spain, to Marrakech, Morocco, to New York City's Rikers Island jail complex. But it's told from the perspective of Vivian Kent, a fictionalized version of Pressler played by Veep star Anna Chlumsky.

Hollywood is looking to journalists for their next big hit, as a recent slew of TV miniseries have been adapted from investigative magazine articles and deep-dive podcasts. The movies have taken inspiration from reporters for decades — but what's novel about the next phase of this trend? 

"It's like a built-in story and a built-in audience," said Anita Li, a Toronto-based journalism instructor, and the founder and editor-in-chief of The Other Wave, a film, television and media website. "So it makes complete sense that digital journalism, especially long-form, would be an [intellectual property] goldmine in Hollywood."

Good long-form journalism will have a narrative arc, characters that are heroes and villains, and a climactic build-up to keep the reader engaged. The resulting product lends itself to a miniseries, anthology series or television show, Li said. 

"When we made a show like Dr. Death or Dirty John or The Shrink Next Door, we're thinking about how we're taking the listener through characters, through story, you know, binge-ability, all of those things," said Marshall Lewy, the chief content officer at Wondery, a podcast network with several shows that have been adapted for the screen. According to Lewy, the company has played a close role in all but one of its adaptations.

The upcoming TV miniseries WeCrashed was based on an eponymous Wondery series, a six-part saga by radio journalist David Brown. The story details the love affair at the center of WeWork, a darling of the 2010s startup world that lost the confidence of investors partly due to the behaviour of its CEO, Adam Neumann. 

WATCH | The trailer for Apple TV+ series WeCrashed, starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway: