Channel 4 orders two more docs fronted by filmmaker and prankster Oobah Butler

UK public broadcaster Channel 4 has commissioned projects from prodco Expectation, fronted by author and filmmaker Oobah Butler, as it seeks to “bridge the divide between YouTube-ready stunts and longform documentary making.”

Oobah Butler in Channel 4’s The Great Amazon Heist

The first doc, How I Made a Million in 90 Days, tells the story of how Butler did just that. Setting himself the challenge of following the many ‘business gurus’ who claim to offer the secret to wealth, he immerses himself in the world of investment and start-ups as he tries to figure out how much of the entrepreneurial dream he is being sold is legitimate.

In the second doc, How to Trick Your Way Onto the Property Ladder, Butler masterminds a range of stunts and tricks designed to get two young first-time buyers on to the increasingly elusive first rung of the UK property ladder.

Speaking about the docs, Butler said: “They’re both big subjects that are pretty much unignorable at this moment in time: our increasing obsession with get-rich-quick and the super wealthy and the housing crisis in the UK.”

Butler was behind Channel 4 doc The Great Amazon Heist and also co-hosted the UK version of MTV’s Catfish: The TV Show. He rose to fame after creating a fictional restaurant that became the highest-rated venue in London on TripAdvisor, despite never having served a single dish.

Tim Hancock, Channel 4’s commissioning editor, said: “After the success of The Great Amazon Heist, we’ve doubled down on Oobah’s brand of highly researched, deeply immersive television with two very different projects. Oobah bridges the divide between YouTube-ready stunts and longform documentary making, resulting in highly unique, intelligent, funny and frequently mindboggling results.”

Butler exec produces with Tristan Cross, Daniel Lucchesi and Expectation’s creative director Ben Wicks. Lucchesi also directs.