Director Who Defrauded Netflix Gets 30-Month Prison Term

Carl Rinsch, the Hollywood director who was convicted of defrauding Netflix of millions of dollars, was sentenced on Monday to 30 months in federal prison after the judge took into account testimony about Mr. Rinsch’s mental health issues.

The judge, Jed Rakoff of Federal District Court in Manhattan, also ordered Mr. Rinsch to repay Netflix the $11 million he was convicted in December of stealing from it, participate in an outpatient mental health treatment program and abstain from narcotics.

In arriving at his decision, which was half of the prosecution’s recommended sentence, Judge Rakoff appeared to be swayed by testimony from character witnesses who wrote letters on Mr. Rinsch’s behalf, including the actor Keanu Reeves.

“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,” Mr. Reeves wrote. Mr. Rinsch and Mr. Reeves met on the set of the 2013 samurai movie “47 Ronin” and became friends.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/29/business/carl-rinsch-netflix-fraud.html