Jeff Maysh
Jeff Maysh | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 March 1982 |
| Occupations |
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| Website | www |
Jeff Maysh (born 30 March 1982, Nassau, Bahamas) is a British-American writer, author and journalist based in Hollywood, California, United States.
Journalism
Maysh started his career at the British men's magazine Loaded.[1] He moved to America in 2010 to cover international crime,[1] for publications including The Atlantic magazine.[2]
As a correspondent for the BBC, Maysh became the first journalist to enter the notorious Korydallos prison, near Athens.[3] His profile of prisoner Vassilis Paleokostas, a Greek bank robber who escaped from the prison in a helicopter, twice, was published on the BBC News Magazine on 25 September 2014.[4][5]
Maysh's story about Steve Davies, a mythical soccer fan who scored a goal for West Ham United,[6] was listed in the notable section of "Best American Sports Writing 2014", and voted number one in a poll of "greatest ever soccer stories".[7]
In May 2015, Paramount Pictures acquired the movie rights to Maysh's story "The Wedding Sting". According to a report in Variety,[8] bidding became "competitive" among Hollywood studios for the true account of a rural Michigan police department that trapped drug dealers with a fake wedding. The story was first published in The Atlantic magazinne.[9]
In 2016, Maysh won "Best Crime Reporting" and "Best Feature (over 1,000 words)" at the 58th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards.[10] Both awards recognised his story in Playboy magazine about a Michigan farmer who ran a $4 million smuggling operation involving counterfeit Pez dispensers.[11][12]
Maysh's 2016 book Handsome Devil is about Victor Lustig,[13] while the following year's The Spy With No Name is about Erwin van Haarlem, a Czechoslovak spy.[14]
In 2018, Maysh published an 8,900-word article about a major fraud involving the McDonald's Monopoly promotion on The Daily Beast.[15] This story of a former police officer who stole $20 million in cash and prizes became the subject of a bidding war in Hollywood.[16] The sale of the movie rights to Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Twentieth Century Fox for $1 million was reported by The Hollywood Reporter as the highest fee ever paid for a single magazine article.[17]
Bibliography
- Lilywhite and Blue: The History of Tottenham's Famous Shirt. Jeff Maysh Books. 2010. ISBN 978-0956684202.
- Handsome Devil. Kindle singles. 2016. ASIN B01CR9PQ6Y.
- The Spy With No Name: The Cold War and a Case of Stolen Identity. Kindle singles. 2017. ASIN B01NBR1CNV.
References
- ^ a b "Talking About Writing: Jeff Maysh, author of 'Handsome Devil'". The Queue UK — medium.com. 12 March 2016. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ "Jeff Maysh". The Atlantic. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ Papapostolou, Anastasios (14 September 2014). "Exclusive: Hollywood Calls For Paleokostas?". Greek Reporter. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ "The Uncatchable". BBC News. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ "Readers spent 2.3 million minutes on The Uncatchable @BBCNewsMagazine". Twitter. 26 September 2014.
- ^ Maysh, Jeff (5 September 2013). "The day Harry Redknapp brought a fan on to play for West Ham". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ^ "Readers' Poll: These Are Your Five Favorite Ever Soccer Articles". Longform.org. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (12 May 2015). "Paramount lands Atlantic Article on Flint Wedding Sting". Variety. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ Maysh, Jeff (12 May 2015). "The Wedding Sting". The Atlantic.
- ^ "Winners: Southern California Journalism Awards 2015" (PDF). Los Angeles Press Club. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ "The Pez Outlaw". Playboy. 12 March 2015. Archived from the original on 27 July 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ Marks, Ben (20 March 2015). "Quest for the Pez Holy Grail: International Smuggling Meets Father-Son Bonding". Collectors Weekly. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ Maysh, Jeff. "The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice". Smithsonian. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ Maysh, Jeff (4 January 2017). "The spy with no name". BBC News. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ Maysh, Jeff (29 July 2018). "How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole Millions". Daily Beast. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ Lee, Chris (10 August 2018). "Behind Hollywood's A-List Bidding War for a McDonald's Monopoly Article". www.vulture.com. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ Abramovitch, Seth (3 August 2018). "Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Paid $1 Million for McDonald's Monopoly Scam Story". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 July 2019.