NEW YORK โ Chris Smith didnโt initially think the 2019 college bribery scandal made for a good documentary subject.
He was editing โFyre,โ the hit Netflix documentary about the music-festival fiasco, when his longtime collaborator, Jon Karmen, suggested another real tale of fraud and spectacle be their next film.
By shifting the focus, Smithโs โOperation Varsity Blues: The College Admission Scandal,โ which debuts Wednesday on Netflix, attempts to reorient center stage in a headline-grabbing drama that has already spawned one Lifetime movie.
The documentary, like the scandal, has a dose of Hollywood.
โOne of the only people that got back to us was John Vandemoer.โVandemoer, a Stanford University sailing coach, was the first person sentenced in the scandal.