Netflix has released the full trailer for “Operation Varsity Blues,” its documentary film on the 2019 college admissions scandal, which you can watch above.
The film features a mix of scripted reenactments and real taped phone calls and interviews with prosecutors. Matthew Modine portrays Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the entire scandal.
“Operation Varsity Blues” premieres on March 17.
The logline for the film describes it as “an examination that goes beyond the celebrity-driven headlines and dives into the methods used by Singer, the man at the center of the shocking 2019 college admissions scandal, to persuade his wealthy clients to cheat an educational system already designed to benefit the privileged.” Directors Chris Smith and Jon Karmen used a combination of interviews and narrative recreations of the FBI’s wiretapped conversations between Singer and his clients to offer “a rare glimpse into the enigmatic figure behind a scheme that exposed the lengths wealthy families would go to for admission into elite colleges, and angered a nation already grappling with the effects of widespread inequality.”
Karmen will executive produce “Operation Varsity Blues” alongside Smith. “Tiger King” fans may recognize Smith as one of the executive producers on that hit Netflix docuseries.
Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among those arrested as part of the 2019 federal investigation. Huffman and her spouse — “Shameless” star William H. Macy, who was not charged — made a charitable donation of $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme, on behalf of their eldest daughter. Huffman had initially planned to do the same thing for her youngest daughter, before backing out.
In total, the people arrested were charged with paying bribes of up to $6 million to get their children into top universities like Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC in what authorities described as the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.”
Huffman, an Oscar nominee for 2006’s “Transamerica,” got a 14-day jail sentence. “Full House” (and “Fuller House”) star Loughlin, who initially pled not guilty, spent two months in prison. Loughlin’s husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, is currently serving his five-month prison sentence.
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