The vibes from Netflix’s The Waterfront are giving Succession. Giving family drama, but in the fishing industry. They’re giving a small town where everyone knows each other’s secrets. And they’re even giving Yellowstone a bit. Which is why it all begs the question: Did this really happen? Is The Waterfront based on a true story? Or is it just fiction?
Well, the answer might be surprising.
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Is The Waterfront based on a true story?
Yes, the Waterfront is based on a true story. And not just any true story, either. Show creator told Tudum that just like Harlan, his own late father, Ottis Wade Williamson, was a fisherman who resorted to trafficking to support his family. “The fishing industry sort of upturned in the ’80s—it all started to go away, and my dad couldn’t feed his family,” he said. “So someone came along and said, ‘Hey, if you do this one thing, you can make all this money.’ And it was hard to say no to.”
Very few details about his arrest are public, but Williamson’s father served time in prison. “My dad—a very, very good man—got tempted to do some things that weren’t so legal and got in some trouble. [But] it put food on the table, helped me go to college,” Williamson said.
This isn’t even the first time Williamson has played with his father’s background. In the first episode Dawson’s Creek Joey explains that her father is in jail for conspiracy to traffic marijuana. “That was exactly my dad’s charge—that’s why he went to prison,” Williamson explained.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Williamson said he originally had the idea for The Waterfront years ago, but held on on making it to honor his father’s request to do it only after his death. The elder Williamson passed away in 2020.
And though only the basis of the story is based on true events, as Williamson told Tudum, “This is about a working man who’s trying to make a go of it for his family. They’ve pulled themselves up from nothing and they’ve built this mini fishing empire in their small little town,” creator Williamson tells Tudum. “Now it’s being taken away from them bit by bit. They’ll do anything to hold onto it, because it represents their family.”
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Netflix’s The Waterfront is now available to stream.
