‘Bad Vegan’ Director Reveals How He Obtained Audio and Video Footage From Anthony Strangis’s Phone
Throughout Netflix’s Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives., audio and video footage coupled with interviews tells the bizarre story of vegan chef Sarma Melngailis who accused her ex-husband Anthony Strangis (Shane Fox) of manipulating her into stealing nearly $2 million from her restaurants to send to him. Although Strangis refused to participate, materials from his phone appeared in the docuseries. Executive producer Ryann Fraser and director Chris Smith, who is also behind Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, revealed how they obtained the footage.
How ‘Bad Vegan’ director made docuseries without Anthony Strangis’s consent
According to restaurateur and subject of Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives Sarma Melngailis, Anthony Strangis, who she met as Shane Fox, played a pivotal role in her downfall.
However, he refused to take part in the docuseries. In fact, Melngailis speaks to her ex-husband on the phone in the opening scene, and he seemingly threatens her not to divulge anything about him.
Speaking to Variety in March 2022, shortly before the four-part docuseries premiered, director Chris Smith and executive producer Ryann Fraser still forged ahead with the story without his viewpoint as they believed “Sarma’s story was equally as valid as his.”
Smith pointed out they would have wanted his “perspective” but felt it didn’t feel necessary as viewers are a part of the vegan chef’s “journey” throughout the series. Even though they share the story from one side, the director said he isn’t trying to “tell the audience what to think.”
‘Bad Vegan’ used audio and video footage from Strangis’s phone
Comparing the documentary to a “Rorschach test,” Smith claimed, “I feel like different people see it in different ways, and they come away with different conclusions.”
Pointing out that’s what they found “most fascinating,” Smith explained they attempted to take the audience on the same “journey” they and other producers went through when it comes to trying to fully understand what happened with Melngailis.
Although Strangis refused to talk to Smith and Fraser, the documentary still included a lot of audio and video footage from his phone. When asked how they received the materials, the two explained it came from his possessions as they were “seized” by the police during their 2016 arrest.
Fraser claimed the several clips came from Melngailis “over time” after they “got to a place of sharing as much as possible.”
Sarma Melngailis revealed she handed over materials for payment
After the debut of Bad Vegan, Melngailis clarified a few things from the docuseries in a lengthy blog post titled, “About Bad Vegan – Part One.”
The Pure Food and Wine owner admitted to Netflix paying her, explaining she provided the producers with audio and video footage in exchange for the streaming giant to pay an attorney who wired the owed wages to her former staff.
The restaurateur insists she never profited from the documentary other than the money that went to restitution. She also pointed out a “disturbingly misleading” phone call at the documentary’s end, almost two years after her four-month prison stint.
“I made those recordings at a much earlier time, deliberately, for a specific reason,” she explained without further detailing the call’s contents. Fraser and Smith later responded to it in a Newsweek article where they doubled down on their decision, pointing out they “found Sarma to be confident and strong” in that call. Bad Vegan is streaming on Netflix.
