Factual America

Gunther’s Millions is about a dog who is living anything but a dog’s life. Gunther is a German Shepherd. He lives a life of luxury thanks to a trust fund. But did a Countess really bequeath her money to him? And what can be his interest in the homes of celebrities, pop bands, and perhaps even a sex cult?

The answer, of course, is that – being a dog – he has no interest in any of these things at all. The humans who look after him, however, now that’s another matter.

In this episode of Factual America, Emilie Dumay and Aurelien Leturgie, the co-creators of Gunther’s Millions, join Matthew Sherwood to discuss the strange story behind the adorable photos of a very rich dog.

It is a story that crosses continents, that involves the accidental revealing of private documents, of a mastermind who is as brilliant as he is eccentric, fraud, and even scientific experiments.

As Emilie and Aurelien open up Gunther’s weird and wonderful world, we find out how his story has affected them, both as filmmakers and individuals. Ultimately, though, the conversation comes back to the dog who started it: Gunther, who is not only the world’s richest dog, but also, as Aurelien suggests, a philosophy, a fantasy, and an icon.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“... you can't really judge a book by its cover. And that's really also what we've learned there, through this wild ride... money does not make you necessarily happy; it just provides you a little bit of comfort to create things. And that's what [Maurizio] does best.” – Aurelien Leturgie

In the course of her 36 year – and counting – political career, Nancy Pelosi has redefined what American women may achieve in politics. 

Two stints as House Speaker and twenty years as leader of the House Democrats have made her one of the most important female politicians of the early twenty-first century.

With her every step of the way has been her daughter, Alexandra, whose new HBO/Sky documentary, Pelosi in the House, is the fruit of their relationship as well as over thirty years of work.

Alexandra joins Matthew Sherwood to discuss a diverse range of topics, including the use of an iPhone as a weapon during the January 6 insurrection, what it was like filming both her mother and in the Capitol, American decline, and when the USA was at its best.

Their conversation ranges from the homely as they find a point of connection in their children’s names, to the solemn, when Matthew asks if Alexandra sees any hope for the USA in the future, to the serious, as Alexandra discusses the toxicity of social media, which nearly lead to the murder of her father.

Alexandra holds nothing back; she says it as she sees it; whether they are talking about the powerful, her employers at HBO, or even herself. She is forthright, frank, and funny. This is a conversation you will not want to miss.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“The person that I put on my film is the person that I have known my entire life. There isn't another version of her that exists.” – Alexandra Pelosi

Phil Spector was a musical genius. His brilliance as a producer made him a legend. On February 3rd 2003 he shot Lana Clarkson dead. In 2009, he was convicted of murder, and died in prison on January 16th 2021.

Spector is a four-part Showtime docu-series (available to watch on Sky Documentaries in the U.K.). In it, series co-directors Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott examine not only Spector’s ‘life and legacy’ but also the person of Lana Clarkson. 

As they tell host, Matthew Sherwood, they want to make Lana ‘more than just a footnote in the Phil Spector story’ by bringing ‘her out as a fully fleshed out human being.’

In doing so, they take the viewer on a more challenging but ultimately more rewarding journey. The Phil Spector that they present is no monster. Rather, he is a deeply damaged human being; one whose flaws led ultimately to his downfall. 

In this episode of Factual America we learn that in order to present as full a picture of Spector as possible, Sheena and Don spoke to a wide variety of people. Among them, the lead detectives in the Lana Clarkson murder case, as well as others with first-hand knowledge of some of the incredible stories told about Spector during his career. The docu-series even has recordings of Phil Spector speaking on the night of the murder.

With Matthew, Sheena and Don discuss the link between musical genius and mental illness – why it seems to affect artists and not people in other industries; the role of money and power, and whether we can still engage with the work of artists who have done terrible things.

They also shed light on who Lana Clarkson was. As Sheena says, Lana ‘was more than Phil Spector’s victim. She was a successful working actress... a daughter and a sister and a friend who by all accounts brought light and joy into the lives of everyone she met.’

Spector is the story of a tragedy, of a legacy corrupted, and two lives wasted. It is a story that moves in the light, and dark. In Factual America #120, go behind the scenes with Matthew Sherwood, Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“There have also been people that criticised us for contextualising Phil’s behaviour, as if that's somehow giving him a pass... it was important to us to present him as a multifaceted human being. He was a loving and devoted father to his daughter Nicole... It doesn't negate the fact that he murdered Lana Clarkson.” – Sheena M. Joyce

No one knows when Bernie Madoff created the Ponzi scheme that would one day lose $64 billion and ruin many lives. Madoff said it started late on. In this episode of Factual America, Joe Berlinger, director and executive producer of Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street, tells host, Matthew Sherwood, that he thinks it was right at the start of Madoff’s career, after he lost $30,000 of investors’ money and, upon receiving a loan to pay it back, chose to lie about what had happened rather than admit the truth.

Whatever the answer, Madoff did not act alone. Others helped him, both actively and – in the case of regulators and banks – through their negligence. Year after year, Madoff’s investments remained profitable despite this being financially impossible. He got away with it though, because, as Joe tells Matthew, ‘people just look the other way when greed is involved.’

In the end, it took a ‘Black Swan’ event – the 2008 financial crisis – to bring Madoff’s sham success to a cataclysmic end.

With his own longstanding interest in stock markets and thirty years experience as a documentary filmmaker, Joe Berlinger is the ideal man to tell the story of Bernie Madoff’s rise and fall. As well as discussing Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, Joe and Matthew look at how what happened with Madoff finds an echo today with the unfolding FTX scandal. They also discuss whether or not Joe worries about standing out from other filmmakers, and the struggle he had to distribute his first film, Brother’s Keeper, in 1992.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“I wanted to dissect the Ponzi and how it worked, and what all those red flags were and why it's representative of such incompetence, or worse, on the part of a lot of institutions that should have known better...I wanted people to understand just how easy it is to manipulate and cheat the system in part as a cautionary tale.” – Joe Berlinger

Christy Wegener, director and producer of I Am Vanessa Guillen, joins Matthew Sherwood to tell the story of Private First Class Vanessa Guillen. 

In 2020, after suffering from sexual harassment by a superior, Vanessa was murdered by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood army base outside Killeen, Texas. In the months that followed, her family refused to let either their grief or the weight of the military silence them, and started a campaign to win justice for their sister and daughter, and all victims of sexual abuse in the military. Their campaign took them to the halls of power in Washington DC, and ultimately, success.

How did they do it? As Christy tells Matthew, the Guillens are ‘an incredibly close-knit family’, one motivated by a desire to ensure that no one ever again is forced to suffer as they have done. This absolute determination, guided by expert help from their lawyer, Natalie Khawam, allowed them to weather the storm of grief and failure, and provided a springboard to their success. Today, it continues to inspire them as Vanessa’s sister, Mayra, leads the I Am Vanessa Guillen Foundation, which advocates on behalf of military sexual abuse victims.

As Matthew Sherwood discovers, the US military has tried hard to deal with claims of harassment and assault within its ranks, but the military system itself remains antithetical to the demands of justice. Christy shares how the presence of cameras can help hold politicians to account, and how the Guillens managed to unite in their cause an otherwise hopelessly divided Capitol Hill.

I Am Vanessa Guillen is the story of a tragedy, of enduring love and courage, and the breaking of a cycle of silence and pain. 

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“... we were just with them, and they were so willing to be vulnerable on camera.,, they didn't really even acknowledge our presence, which was good... they were very focused on their mission.” – Christy Wegener

This week on Factual America, Matthew Sherwood is joined by Miles Coleman, writer and co-producer of Netflix docu-series, FIFA Uncovered. 

When the Fédération Internationale de Football Association – more popularly known as FIFA – was founded in 1904, its remit was simple: to oversee a competition between various footballing nations. 

Today, however, it is a multi-billion dollar organisation that operates almost as a nation state. FIFA Uncovered explores the governing body’s rise and the fall of FIFA executives following allegations of corruption in 2015.

How did it happen? As Miles tells Matthew, money is at the heart of the matter. It began over fifty years ago when sportswear firm Adidas wined and dined FIFA executives in order to become a major partner. Over the years, people and interests who wanted to win at all costs passed money to executives to make sure the ‘right’ decisions were reached. For example, and allegedly, the grant of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Miles discusses the challenges of making a documentary about a subject people either know everything or nothing about, of interviewing people in the age of Covid, and his determination to let the FIFA executives interviewed in the docu-series tell their own story.

He looks at the hot topic of sports washing, how FIFA preferred dealing with repressive regimes to democracies, and what benefit a country like Qatar gets from holding the World Cup: it begins with good PR but goes far beyond it.

Is FIFA Uncovered a docu-series simply for football fans? No. It begins with football, but ultimately becomes ‘a story about human nature’ as well as the success and humbling of an empire. Join Matthew and Miles as they explore a topic both epic and personal.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“... this is a story about human nature. And it's a story about politics. It's about what happens when you let an organization with immense money in the bank, and immense power, and very greedy individuals running it. What happens when you let that organization run amok.” – Miles Coleman

Every summer, a horde of professional Santas, Mrs. Clauses and elves descend on a campsite in the New Hampshire woods to learn the tricks of their trade.

But this year is different. As Santas adapt to a modern world and embrace inclusivity, they are met with a lot of love but a lot of hate too.

Filmmakers Nick Sweeney and Stacey Reiss join us to talk about how they got such an unprecedented insight into Santa Camp, what it was like filming hundreds of Santas, and the biggest challenges they encountered while making the film.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“We had no idea of the twists and turns it would take, we never thought we’d be standing face to face with the Proud Boys, we never thought the Clauses we’d been following would have such extraordinary things happen to them, the highs and the lows.” - Nick Sweeney

Disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, was an infamous sexual predator, using his money and influence to hide is secret life preying on young girls. But he did not act alone. Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and daughter of privilege was just as much a monster as Epstein, as revealed by the new Netflix documentary, Ghislaine Maxwell: Filthy Rich. 

Join Matthew Sherwood as he talks with Maiken Baird and Lisa Bryant, co-directors and executive producers, about the bravery of the victims who have come forward to testify against Maxwell. They also discuss the challenges of telling this shocking tale and the ability of the powers that be to cover up the biggest scandal since Watergate. 

“Where are the names? We know the names. Everyone kind of knows the names. But we can’t publicly say these names because there’s not a picture, there’s no solid proof, and there’s a huge cover-up. We know there’s a huge cover-up. But who is at the head of the cover-up? Well, that’s a bit muddy, because it has been covered up!" – Lisa Bryant

In 1996 a Pepsi giveaway competition inspired John Leonard, a young mountain guide from Seattle, to do everything he could to claim the top prize – a Harrier jet. Realising that it was physically impossible to drink enough cans of cola to earn the necessary 7,000,000 points, John hatched a plan that soon had him facing off against a team of corporate lawyers.

 A David versus Goliath story for the ages, Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? – a new docuseries from Netflix – celebrates the human spirit and humanity’s boundless capacity for creativity and innovation, all against the backdrop of 1990s America.

Join Matthew Sherwood in a laugh-filled chat with the film’s award-winning director and producer, Andrew Renzi, who relays what it was like to work with Netflix, climb a mountain in Antarctica and hang out eating hoagies with Michael Avenatti.

At the end Matthew discovers that one of Andrew’s first jobs in film was working for Wes Anderson, helping to shed a light on one of Hollywood’s most idiosyncratic filmmakers.

“There’s a difference for me between stories that are nostalgic and stories that are timeless…There’s a big draw right now to try to tell nostalgic stories…but that just doesn’t have enough teeth for me.” – Andrew Renzi

Nicolas Brown’s new documentary, The Letter, takes its name from Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ 2015 letter on the care for ‘our common home’ – the earth.

The film explores the journey of a group of people from different walks of life – some from the margins of society, others closer to the centre – as they make their way to the Vatican, for a meeting with the Pope.

In this special episode of Factual America, Nicolas and host Matthew Sherwood discuss The Letter’s twin themes: the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, as well as the scientific reaction to the making of the film, which was unexpectedly positive. They explore how the Pope became an environmentalist, and how St. Francis of Assisi inspired Arouna, Ridhima, and all those whose journey Nicolas followed.

Nicolas also shares some light-hearted moments from the making of The Letter – such as the day he had to work out whether Pope Francis would turn left or right when entering the room on the day of their meeting – as well as some deeply personal ones from his own career – for example, the day Sir David Attenborough spoke out for the first time to warn the world of the climate crisis.

The Letter is a film about a world in danger. But more than that, it is about people who are rising to meet the threat. Compelled by reality, they find in Laudato Si’ an ally in theology, and in Pope Francis, someone who is prepared to speak at the top of his voice with them, and for them, for the environment, and future generations.

Made by the award-winning Off The Fence production company, The Letter can be watched for free on YouTube (here).

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“... what the film's really about is that the Pope has intuited this moment in time by which science and faith together can work out ... a solution to what arguably could be the biggest existential crisis facing humanity: climate change and biodiversity loss.” – Nicolas Brown