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.
"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"