#9 | Cassius Michael Kim | Man On The Run

Director Cassius Michael Kim on making Man On The Run, his Netflix documentary about Malaysia's 1MDB scandal, and how the money trail led all the way to Hollywood. Cassius Michael Kim is the director, writer and executive producer of Man On The Run, a Netflix documentary about the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia. Our conversation goes well beyond the film, looking back at Cassius's time with CNN on The Wonder List, and his move to his new production company, The Smoking Section. Chapters 0:00 Welcome Cassius Michael Kim 0:24 From Seoul to Northern California 0:46 The Wonder List with Bill Weir for CNN 3:08 Starting out in film 6:23 From a small production company to CNN Originals 12:44 A documentary in Stockton 14:45 Then Covid hit 22:09 Ten years on the road, then home 23:03 What is 1MDB? 29:36 How the fund was set up 31:04 The PetroSaudi deal 33:08 The money reaches Hollywood 35:57 Where the money went 39:07 Accountability in Malaysia 46:37 Breaking the story 49:45 Getting the film to Netflix 55:06 A tough market and the strikes 1:04:35 Promoting Man On The Run in LA 1:07:44 A changing industry 1:14:13 Storytelling and AI 1:21:40 Average Malaysians 1:25:55 On the campaign trail 1:28:02 Politics in Malaysia 1:33:18 Audience reactions 1:36:29 Wrapping up The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com