Netflop

Somehow the streaming-video giant blew $55 million on a whack-job director

“There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins.” – Frank Capra

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Netflix probably won’t produce a true-crime documentary on the film director who ripped it off for $55 million – but Amazon should make one, just for laughs if not for the bizarre story line.

Recall how streaming companies were crawling all over each other in 2018 to line up projects for their relatively new and wildly expanding services.

In the fog of this competition, Amazon had nearly cinched a deal with a highly unstable filmmaker who’d produced a bunch of TV commercials and one bomb movie from 2013 called “47 Ronin.” His name is Carl Erik Rinsch.

As Amazon’s luck would have it, Netflix wooed Rinsch away with a better offer. Now Amazon’s smile logo can expand into a full-throated guffaw.

On Tuesday, Rinsch, 47, was arrested for stealing $11 million from Netflix and spending it with the bold imagination of a sci-fi film director.

Among his extravagances were two mattresses costing $638,000, according to a federal grand jury indictment. (Yes, you really can find mattresses that cost this much, and that’s without any cash stuffed in them). Rinsch also splurged on luxury bedding and linens costing another $295,000.

“Roll it! … Eh-hem, I said roll it. … What? … Where’s all the money?” (Illustration: AI generated.)

Hey, if you’re going to sleep on the job, why not? The $11 million that Rinsch allegedly stole for these bedtime frivolities was in addition to the $44 million that Netflix paid him for a series called “White Horse.”

He never completed the series, so for a grand total of over $55 million, Netflix can now call it “White Elephant.

Rinsch even used some of the money he stole from Netflix for lawyers to sue Netflix for even more money.

He appeared wearing shackles in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles but did not enter a plea.

[[Don’t Miss These Blunders]]

The New York Times published an exhaustive report on this massive Hollywood blunder in November 2023.

It noted that Netflix ignored Rinsch’s shoddy reputation, his fights with film investors, the project’s troubled past, and the fact that it didn’t even have a complete script. Netflix even had a producer on staff who’d clashed with Rinsch on “47 Ronin” and didn’t consult with him before inking the deal.

Tellingly, Rinsch declined to comment for the Times article, except to complain that it would be inaccurate and “discuss the fact that I somehow lost my mind … (Spoiler alert) … I did not.”

Another spoiler alert: Netflix is the one that really lost its mind. After spending $44 million, only to watch Rinsch miss critical production deadlines, it gave him another $11 million, which he then blew on himself, prosecutors allege.

Rinsch makes Netflix’ “Tinder Swindler” look like a piker.