Hollywood Meets Crypto: Director Uses Netflix Funds for Risky Dogecoin Bet
Carl Erik Rinsch, the director of “47 Ronin,” allegedly took nearly $60 million that Netflix gave him for a sci-fi series to invest in the crypto and stock markets.
According to The New York Times, Netflix gave the director more than $55 million, along with a near-total budgetary and creative freedom.
It never got a single finished episode back.
Instead, Rinsch reportedly used a large portion of the budget to invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies.
He then went on to spend millions on cars, furniture, and designer clothing.
The report cited cast, crew members, emails, and court filings in a divorce case brought by Rinsch’s wife.
Netflix battled other streaming giants for Rinsch’s new show called Organic Intelligent, which Netflix renamed to Conquest.
The company agreed to pay $61.2 million in several installments for the rights to the series.
But Netflix ignored several red flags, the report said. A major one is that Rinsch was still fighting 30West and other early investors, which subsequently received $14 million of the $61 million from Netflix under a legal settlement.
In March 2020, Rinsch asked Netflix for more money. By that point, they had already spent $44.3 million and were reluctant to give more as Rinsch had missed several production milestones.
Still, to save the production, Netflix sent Rinsch’s production company $11 million. This brought the total to more than $55 million.
However, Rinsch’s behavior “grew erratic,” the NYT said. He claimed he had discovered Covid-19’s secret transmission mechanism and was able to predict lightning strikes and volcano eruptions.
Rinsch went on to spend the project funds on investments, many of which failed.
This included the S&P 500 index and shares of the biotech firm Gilead Sciences.
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