2023-11-26 13:45:00
The science fiction television series was going to be about a brilliant mind who invents a quasi-human species called Organic Intelligents.
In 2018, around the time of the rise of streaming services, a half-dozen studios and video platforms lined up to court Carl Erik Rinsch, a little-known filmmaker who had only directed one film, “47 Ronin: The legend of the samurai. It was a failure at the box office and with critics, and Rinsch’s fights with his producers had attracted attention.
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But the demand for new content was intense. Amid the production frenzy, the project Rinsch was trying to sell—a sci-fi series about artificial humans—became a sought-after asset.
After a close auction, Rinsch and his representatives reached an informal agreement for an eight-figure sum with Amazon. But before they had a chance to formalize it in writing, Netflix intervened. Cindy Holland, the company’s then vice president of original content, offered millions of dollars more, as well as something studios rarely give directors: the right to the final cut.
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Netflix won the contract… but would soon regret it. The company spent more than $55 million on Rinsch’s series, but never received a single finished episode.
Shortly after signing the contract, Rinsch’s behavior became erratic, according to members of the show’s cast and crew, as well as text messages and emails reviewed by The New York Times, and court documents from a divorce suit filed by his wife. The filmmaker claimed that he had discovered the secret transmission mechanism of COVID-19 and that he could predict when lightning would strike. He bet a significant amount of Netflix’s money on the stock market and cryptocurrencies. He spent millions of dollars on a fleet of Rolls-Royce cars, designer furniture and clothing.
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Now, Rinsch and Netflix are immersed in a confidential arbitration proceeding initiated by the director, who claims the company breached his contract and owes him at least $14 million in damages. Netflix denied owing Rinsch a cent and referred to his demands as extortion techniques.
Rinsch refused to answer a detailed list of questions. In a recent Instagram post, he commented that he did not cooperate with the Times because he anticipated the article would be “inaccurate.”
The company spent more than $55 million on Rinsch’s series, but never received a single finished episode.
Netflix spokesman Thomas Cherian said the company had provided considerable financing and other support for Rinsch’s series, but “after a lot of time and effort, it became clear that he was never going to complete the project he agreed to do, so “We gave it up for lost.”
By all accounts, Rinsch, 46, is a talented filmmaker. After studying at Brown University, he joined Ridley Scott’s production house, where he made commercials and apprenticed with the acclaimed director.
Rumors circulated that Rinsch’s debut would be a prequel to the film “Alien,” the 1979 science fiction classic directed by Scott. Instead, Universal Studios hired him to direct “47 Ronin: Legend of the Samurai,” a big-budget action film starring Keanu Reeves. When the film was released in 2013, it failed at the box office. Universal had to declare much of its $175 million budget as a total loss.
Rinsch returned to directing commercials, but also began working with his wife, Gabriela Rosés Bentancor, on a project of his own: a science fiction television series about a brilliant mind who invents a quasi-human species called Organic Intelligents. Rinsch named the series “White Horse.”
At first, Rinsch financed the production with his own money and hired a cast and crew made up mostly of European artists, which allowed him to reduce costs and circumvent the rules of Hollywood unions. To keep the project going, Rinsch secured an investment from production company 30West. But when he missed a delivery date, 30West threatened to take ownership of the project. Reeves came to the rescue and invested in the show to become a producer alongside Rosés.
With the money that Reeves contributed, Rinsch completed the editing of six short episodes lasting between four and ten minutes, which he used to put together a sales proposal for the large streaming platforms with the intention of producing a 13-season episodes that would last 120 minutes in total.
Rinsch’s sales proposal attracted interest from Amazon, HBO, Hulu, Netflix, Apple and YouTube. Amazon seemed determined to win the bid. But Netflix stole the project from him at the last minute, convinced it had the potential to become a sci-fi franchise as successful as “Stranger Things.”
Netflix spokesman Thomas Cherian said the company had provided considerable financing and other support for Rinsch’s series, but “after a lot of time and effort, it became clear that he was never going to complete the project he agreed to do, so “We gave it up for lost.”
The company agreed to pay $61.2 million in several installments for the rights to the series, which it renamed “Conquest,” according to a November 2018 term sheet that the Times reviewed. The deal included two unusual clauses: Netflix gave Rinsch the right to the final cut. And he assured Rinsch and Rosés that they would be “committed for life” to all subsequent seasons and spin-off stories.
Now, Rinsch had to do his part. He began filming the remaining episodes of “Conquest” in São Paulo, then in Montevideo, Uruguay, and in Budapest, Hungary.
In São Paulo, the local film industry union sent a representative to the set after receiving a complaint that Rinsch was “mistreating the crew” with “yelling,” “vulgar words” and “excessive rudeness,” according to a letter the union sent him to Netflix’s production partner in the region. Netflix learned of the problem and discussed it with Rinsch, according to a person familiar with the matter.
In Budapest, Rinsch spent days without sleep and accused his wife of plotting to have him killed, according to two people who witnessed the outburst.
Later, Rosés expressed in a court file of her divorce lawsuit that her husband’s behavior began to change even before filming began abroad. On several occasions, she had thrown things at him and twice she had punched holes in a wall.
Rinsch said he was diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and takes medication for both conditions. Rosés and some film technicians were concerned about his use of Vyvanse, an amphetamine often prescribed to treat ADHD. Psychiatrists warn that when taken in excess, this drug can have serious side effects, including mania, delirium, and even psychosis.
In March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic reached American shores, Rinsch asked Netflix to send him more money. He had missed several production deliveries and was torn between two versions of the script, a shorter one that fit the original 13-episode plan and one twice as long that would require a second season to be approved.
Rinsch’s sales proposal attracted interest from Amazon, HBO, Hulu, Netflix, Apple and YouTube. Amazon seemed determined to win the bid.
Netflix initially resisted authorizing the request, but relented when he warned them that the entire production risked collapsing without an immediate injection of capital.
Netflix deposited $11 million with Rinsch’s production company, bringing its total investment to more than $55 million.
Rinsch transferred $10.5 million of the $11 million to his personal brokerage account and, using investment options, made very risky bets on the stock market, copies of his bank and brokerage account statements included in the affidavit show. petition for divorce. She lost $5.9 million in a matter of weeks.
In September 2020, Netflix reconfigured its management team. Holland and another executive-level person involved in Rinsch’s contract have left the company.
On March 18, 2021, a Netflix business affairs executive, Rochelle Gerson, informed him via email that Netflix had decided to stop financing “Conquest.” She told him that he was free to sell it to another buyer, but that any other investment company would have to reimburse Netflix for what she had spent.
Rinsch sent angry emails to Gerson and a Netflix lawyer accusing them of breaching their contract.
The director had already started using what was left of the $11 million that Netflix had deposited with his production company to gamble with cryptocurrencies. Unlike his investments in the stock market, this did bear fruit: when he liquidated his dogecoin positions in May 2021, he had a balance of almost $27 million.
Rinsch said he was diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and takes medication for both conditions.
So Rinsch spent lavishly. He bought five Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, and millions of dollars in luxurious furniture and designer clothes. His account amounted to $8.7 million, according to a forensic accountant hired by Rosés.
Rosés’ legal team suspected that the purchases were designed to hide Rinsch’s cryptocurrency earnings.
In a statement, the man responded that the cars and furniture were part of props for scenes in “Conquest” and that he had paid for them with Netflix production money. But in his arbitration case with Netflix, he took a different stance: In confidential court documents reviewed by the Times, he argued that the money was his by contract and that Netflix owed him several more payments, totaling more than $14 million. of dollars.
Netflix disagrees. In a motion it filed in July, the company argued that the payments were subject to Rinsch completing several stages of production, which the company claims he never made. This month, the case was presented at a hearing before an arbitrator. A verdict is expected soon.
(c) The New York Times
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