How does a small-town Arkansas man find himself at the center of international drug smuggling and the biggest U.S. political scandal of the 1980s? From executive producer Adam McKay comes The Invisible Pilot, a three-part documentary on the life of Gary Betzner, a charismatic and shadowy figure whose apparent suicide in 1977 triggered an investigation into a double life filled with hedonism, cocaine smuggling with the Medellin cartel and even dealings with Pablo Escobar himself.
Emmy award-winning directors Phil Lott and Ari Mark sat down with BeatsBoxingMayhem to discuss how they put this complicated project together in just three episodes, whether Betzner is the story’s true villain, and if his story is a perverse but realistic depiction of the American Dream.
The Invisible Pilot debuts on HBO April 4 at 9 p.m. ET.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 