It has been reported that Brad Pitt’s production Company, Plan B Entertainment, will be producing a TV series for HBO called “Paper” about the life of a debt collector. The show is to be about a former gangster in Buffalo , NY, that tries to clean up his life by starting to work at a debt collection agency – only to learn that the life in that debt collection agency is not too much different from his life as a gangster.
Buffalo, NY is home to a great number of debt collection agencies, such that many attorneys in the area of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act would deem it the collection capital of the United States. As such, the setting seems appropriate. However, the main character is said to find work in a collection firm that focuses on payday loans that are rather old. The accounts – or what is termed as “paper” in the
industry – are at the bottom rung of collection accounts that are deemed recoverable. This will be contrasted with a more esteemed collection agency that has higher quality “paper” – or better accounts that they are collecting.
It is said that the series is based upon an essay that was published in the New Yorker in 2010 called “Pay Up” which took a close up look at the life of an ex-con that owns a debt collection agency in Buffalo that woks similar “paper” as the main character in the film. The project is still in development with no kind
of production schedule set. Therefore, it will be quite a while until there is anything more to report.
However, SmithMarco will be ready! We pledge to be avid followers of this show if it makes it on the air. We vow to provide weekly blogs with each episode, comparing and contrasting some of the themes of the show with reality as we know it. We will note similarities with the experiences of our own clients, and offer our opinions on how consumers should handle the situations in which characters of the show find themselves.
We also would like to be depicted in the show for the champions of consumers rights that we are. Therefore, should Brad Pitt play the part of the debt collector, we think it only appropriate that Smith & Marco are portrayed by Clooney and Jackman – it would surely be an accurate portrayal!
When you’re being pursued by debt collectors, you have rights, and we’re here to help. SmithMarco, P.C. has been protecting consumer rights since 2005. If you feel that you’re rights have been violated, please contact us for a free case review.