This series is based on the book "Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia", written by FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone with Richard Woodley, about the true story of Pistone's undercover work in two New York City Mafia families as a low-level jewel thief named Donnie Brasco. The book was previously the basis for the movie Donnie Brasco (1997). Pistone's alias in the series was changed to "Joe Falcone" for legal reasons.