McMillions

In the tradition of Argo, The Wizard of Lies, and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, a book that expands upon the HBO docuseries, McMillion$, with new, exclusive interviews and stories that couldn't make it into the series.

In March of 2001, Federal prosecutor Mark Devereaux cold-called Rob Holm, the head of security for McDonald's Corporation. Without explanation, Devereaux asked that Holm and several other McDonald's senior executives plan a visit to the Jacksonville, Florida, FBI, and tell no one about their intended destination. It wasn't up for discussion. Upon their arrival, Devereaux watched them closely, looking at body language, checking for tells. To him, they were all potential suspects.

Once they were seated in an unremarkable conference room, sealed away in the hyper-secure FBI building, Devereaux began to lay out a shocking conspiracy, one that ran deep into McDonald's most beloved promotions: the Monopoly game. This is where they began to discover from 1989 to 2001, almost every high-value prize winner was actually illegitimate. But how could this happen and who all was behind it? A rookie FBI agent and a brilliant undercover operation led them to one man who brilliantly crafted a near-infallible nationwide conspiracy for fraud.

Expanded from the wildly popular HBO docuseries with major new interviews, MCMILLIONS traces this massive crime, the intricate web of lies that bolstered it, and the tireless work of the FBI agents that unraveled it all. It is a story littered with tragedy: families torn apart, betrayals, financial ruin, and one suspicious car crash. Yet, there are bright spots in the hijinks of the FBI agents and their co-conspirators. Ultimately, it is a story of what happens when the American dream goes very wrong.

The McDonald's Monopoly promotional game of the 1980s and 1990s was one of the most successful marketing gimmicks in US corporate history. Millions of Americans played for the chance to win cash, cars, and other big-ticket items. Sales shot up a whopping 40 percent every time McDonald's ran the promotions -- but, as exposed in the wildly-entertaining McMillion$ documentary series -- the game itself was rigged. For nearly the entire run of the promotion, there were no legitimate winners. Now with this book, all the face-melting details from the documentary series have been expanded with sometimes hilarious behind-the-scenes revelations as a pair of mismatched FBI agents zero in on the criminal mastermind behind the scheme. McMillion$ is a McMasterpiece of the burger crimes genre.--Evan Wright, author of Generation Kill and American Desperado.
"You will not believe how elaborate, intricate and insidious the McDonald Monopoly fraud of the 90's was. Brian and James weave a story so fantastic you can't believe it's real - but it is! Their HBO series was amazing but here they deliver in a way you can't miss."--Tom Segura, comedian and bestselling author of I'd Like to Play Alone, Please

James Lee Hernandez is a multi-Emmy and PGA Award nominated filmmaker and Signal Award winning podcaster. Most notably, Hernandez and his creative partner, Brian Lazarte directed, edited, wrote, and executive produced the 5-time Emmy nominated HBO Original Documentary Series, McMillion$ (Sundance 2020). Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, and Archie Gips also executive produced.

Most recently, Hernandez executive produced the forthcoming three-part documentary series, Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza which will be available on Paramount+ in 2024. He also wrote, directed, and executive produced the Apple TV+ Original Documentary Series, The Big Conn (SXSW 2022).

Hernandez is a self-taught Latinx filmmaker and founding partner of FunMeter, a TV & Film production company specializing in stranger-than-fiction scripted and non-scripted content.

Brian Lazarte is an Emmy -nominated Producer, Director and Editor. His credits include a variety of award-winning documentaries and series. Most notably: The 5-time Emmy nominated McMillion$ (Sundance 2020) for HBO and The Big Conn (SXSW, 2022) for Apple TV+, which he wrote, directed, edited and executive produced alongside James Lee Hernandez.

His forthcoming Paramount+ documentary series Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza will be coming 2024.

Additional notable credits include Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D, HBO's Emmy award-winning Sonic Highways, Fed Up, ESPN's Emmy award-winning Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau 30 for 30, The Price of Free (Grand Jury Prize, Sundance 2018), and Showtime's Time of Death, which won IDA's Best Limited Series in 2014. A recipient of the Panavision New Filmmaker grant, Lazarte's work has been seen over the last 18-years on major networks and streaming platforms. He is a Signal Award winning podcaster as well as a founding partner of FunMeter, a TV & Film production company specializing in stranger-than-fiction scripted and non-scripted content.

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