The Signal Award-Winning Podcast from iHeartPodcasts and FilmNation Entertainment Debuts First Episode of Season 3 “SNAFU: Formula 6” Today

Listen to Episode 1 HERE

New York, NY - March 12, 2025 – FilmNation Entertainment and iHeartPodcasts announced today that SNAFU with Ed Helms, the award-winning podcast about history’s greatest screwups, has been greenlit for Season 4. The new season will include a video component in which Host and Executive Producer Ed Helms (The Office, The Hangover) invites some of his favorite celebrity guests on to hear a new, shorter SNAFU in each episode. Season 4 is currently in production for 35 weekly episodes and will launch Summer 2025. SNAFU is a production of iHeartPodcasts, FilmNation Entertainment, and Pacific Electric Picture Co., in association with Gilded Audio. 

The first episode of Season 3 of SNAFU was released today, March 12, 2025. Season 3: “Formula 6” tells the story of Prohibition you haven’t heard before, as it follows an unlikely pair of sleuths trying to uncover what was behind a mass wave of deadly poisonings during the 1920s. This season investigates how gun-slinging Prohibition agents, Washington politicians, and a raging culture war led to so many people dying when they imbibed. Special guests in Season 3 include Terence Winter (creator of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and Josh Graham Lynn (CEO and Cofounder of the grassroots organization RepresentUs). Season 3: “Formula 6” is releasing episodes weekly on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard; listen to the trailer HERE. 

“Prohibition was obviously a colossal SNAFU, but it turns out enforcing it was way darker than I had ever imagined. Forget flappers and jazz, this season we go deep into our own government’s bizarre choices and their very grim consequences,” says SNAFU Host and Executive Producer Ed Helms. “So, if you thought the worst thing about Prohibition was a bad hangover in the drunk tank, buckle up, because the feds had a much deadlier plan in mind. And it’s wild.”

The third season is produced by Alyssa Martino and Tory Smith for FilmNation, and produced and written by Carl Nellis, Albert Chen, Nevin Kallepalli, and Stephen Wood for Gilded Audio. Executive producers for the third season are Helms and Mike Falbo for Pacific Electric Picture Co, Milan Popelka, Whitney Donaldson for Gilded Audio, and Dylan Fagan for iHeartPodcasts.

In addition to the exciting news about Season 3 and 4, Helms also has a new book SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups, which is set to hit shelves on April 29, 2025 from Grand Central Publishing. The project elaborates on some of the craziest SNAFUs since World War II – from planting nukes on the moon to training pigeon spies to selling radioactive toys to children – with Ed bringing his trademark warmth and comedy to the role of “unofficial history teacher.”

“We’re thrilled to expand ‘the SNAFUniverse.’ We are so grateful to take the kind of sophisticated yet commercial storytelling our two companies already love producing across film and TV and bring them to new formats through the SNAFU Media partnership – whether it’s audio, video, print, or beyond,” said Alyssa Martino, SVP of Podcasting at FilmNation and Mike Falbo, partner at Pacific Electric Picture Co. in a joint statement. 

iHeartPodcasts is the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, and FilmNation’s podcasting division has become a hub for top-notch non-fiction storytelling. iHeartPodcasts and FilmNation collaborated on the past two seasons of SNAFU which won the 2024 Signal Awards for Best Writing and Best Host in the category Limited Series and Specials. They’re also behind the new original podcast Greatest Escapes with Arturo Castro, which is currently in release. 

EDITOR’S NOTE

Podcast art is available for download HERE.

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About FilmNation Entertainment

FilmNation Entertainment is a leading independent entertainment company that produces, finances, and distributes award-winning films, television series, podcasts, and theater productions that combine strong creative voices and global appeal. Recent FilmNation productions include Sean Baker’s Academy Award-Winning Anora, starring Mikey Madison, which won five Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actress; Edward Berger’s Academy Award-Winning Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini; and Pablo Larraín’s Academy Award-Nominated Maria starring Angelina Jolie. The company also produced award-winning box office hits that include Promising Young Woman, Arrival, and The Big Sick. FilmNation is the home of Infrared, a new film production label focused on mainstream genre films with franchise potential. Infrared’s first production, Novocaine starring Jack Quaid, will be in theaters March 2025. 

Since its founding in 2008, the company has expanded beyond its film roots. FilmNation launched its television division with I Know This Much is True for HBO, for which Mark Ruffalo earned the 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. Recent releases include Small Town, Big Story for Sky. With teams in both Los Angeles and London, FilmNation’s television division is currently developing multiple new projects with global appeal.

FilmNation’s podcasting division is the home of non-fiction storytelling for the company, featuring character-driven storytelling and original voices uniquely suited to the medium. Popular podcasts include the Signal Award-Winning SNAFU with Ed Helms. The new podcast-inspired book SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups will hit shelves April 2025.  

FilmNation’s theater investments include 2024 Best Play Tony-Winner Stereophonic. Additional theater credits include the Tony Award-Winning productions Prima Facie, The Sound Inside, and The Band’s Visit. 

About Pacific Electric Picture Co.

Founded by Ed Helms and Mike Falbo in 2012, Pacific Electric Picture Co. is a production company with a first look deal at Universal Television. On the television side, Pacific Electric produced two seasons of the hit show RUTHERFORD FALLS, created by Helms, Sierra Teller Ornelas, and Mike Schur for Peacock &amp; UTV. Also for Peacock, they previously released TRUE STORY WITH ED & RANDALL, co-hosted by Helms and Randall Park, to rave reviews. Before that, they produced the critically acclaimed sketch show AUNTY DONNA’S BIG OL’ HOUSE OF FUN for Netflix in 2020. In 2018, Pacific Electric won a WGA Award for their Comedy Central special THE FAKE NEWS WITH TED NELMS, a subversive, a-political news show satire, hosted by a guy who kind of looks like Ed Helms. 

On the feature side, they produced COFFEE AND KAREEM for Netflix in 2020, directed by Michael Dowse and starring Ed Helms, Taraji P Henson, Betty Gilpin, and David Alan Grier, and CORPORATE ANIMALS written by Sam Bain and directed by Patrick Brice starring Demi Moore, Jessica Williams, and Karan Soni, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2019. Besides SNAFU, they recently released the podcast BROOMGATE, about the biggest scandal to hit the sport of curling, to wide acclaim.