Hollywood director who stole $11M from Netflix – Business News
A Hollywood director was sentenced Monday to 30 months in jail for stealing $11 million from Netflix – and utilizing the riches to splurge on Rolls-Royces and stays at five-star resorts.
Carl Rinsch, 48, who directed a handful of sci-fi and motion movies, acquired a sentencing simply half the size of the prosecution’s advisable jail time after the choose gave the impression to be swayed by star-studded testimony from character witnesses together with actor Keanu Reeves.
Hollywood director Carl Rinsch, 48, was sentenced to 30 months in jail. John Sciulli
Judge Jed Rakoff of Federal District Court in Manhattan ordered Rinsch to repay Netflix the $11 million he was convicted in December of stealing from the streaming giant, in addition to to take part in an outpatient mental health program and halt his narcotics use.
In a letter, Reeves – identified for his roles in “The Matrix” and the “John Wick” franchise – defended his good friend Rinsch, whom he met on the set of the 2013 samurai flick “47 Ronin.”
“I believe circumstances arose where his mental health was compromised by misuse of medications and perhaps other issues, which amplified the acts of his self-sabotage and grandiosity,” the star wrote in his testimony, in accordance with courtroom information.
“I do not know the details of this case. But based upon what I do know about Carl, I did want to take the opportunity to write on his behalf, in the hope that his sentence might be tempered with measures of leniency and mercy as well as justice,” Reeves added.
The actor — who was an investor in Rinsch’s Netflix show and served as a producer on the project — was current at an intervention for Rinsch staged on the director’s Los Angeles home, the place a behavioral health guide tried to persuade Rinsch to enter rehab, in accordance with the New York Times.
Rinsch’s lawyer didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark.
Actor Keanu Reeves reportedly invested within the show. GC Images
Prosecutors mentioned Netflix paid Rinsch about $44 million for a sci-fi show about a new humanlike species that turns towards their creators, later sending over one other $11 million after the director claimed he needed more funding.
But Rinsch truly positioned a chunk of the money into a personal brokerage account, which he used to commerce securities – making a collection of failed investments that misplaced round half of the $11 million in simply a couple months, in accordance with prosecutors.
In early 2021, Netflix canceled development of the show after Rinsch’s habits turned erratic – however that solely despatched the troubled director on a spending spree, residing out of five-star resorts in California and Spain and shopping for 5 Rolls-Royces and a Ferrari, prosecutors mentioned.
Netflix initially paid $44 million for the show, later sending over one other $11 million, in accordance with prosecutors. NurPhoto by way of Getty Images
He spent about $1 million on luxurious mattresses, bedding and linens and $652,000 on watches and garments, utilizing one other $1.8 million to repay his credit card payments, in accordance with courtroom information.
Rinsch was arrested in March 2025 on expenses of wire fraud, money laundering and a number of counts associated to participating in transactions stemming from criminal activity. He was taking a look at a most time period of 90 years to life if the sentences had been served consecutively.
