Billy Corben

Billy Corben
Corben in March 2017
Born
William Cohen

1978
Fort Myers, Florida, U.S. Married to Meghan Christine Perkins.
Occupation(s)Documentarian, Filmmaker
Years active2001-present
Known forCocaine Cowboys, Dawg Fight, and The U

William Cohen (born 1978), better known by the stage name Billy Corben, is an American documentary film director. Along with producing partner Alfred Spellman, he is co-founder of the Miami-based studio Rakontur, which has created films such as Cocaine Cowboys, Dawg Fight, The U, and The U Part 2.

Early life and education

Corben was born in Fort Myers, Florida to a Jewish family, and was raised in South Florida. As a child actor, he spent a large portion of his early days in Los Angeles. He attended New World School of the Arts for high school,[1] and then the University of Miami, where he majored in political science, screenwriting, and theater and graduated with honors.

Career

Corben's feature documentary directorial debut, Raw Deal: A Question of Consent, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001, making him one of the youngest directors in Sundance history. Examining the alleged rape of an exotic dancer at a fraternity house at the University of Florida, the film utilized extensive clips from videotape footage of the alleged assault. Anthony Miele of Film Threat said of Raw Deal, "Billy Corben has stumbled onto one of the most controversial films of the modern day," calling it "one of the most compelling pieces of non-fiction ever produced."[2] The film was acquired by Artisan Entertainment for $100,000 with plans for an August 2001 release, though its release was postponed over various issues.[3] Ultimately the filmmakers reacquired the rights and released the film themselves on DVD.

Following Raw Deal, Corben and producing partner Alfred Spellman founded Rakontur, a Miami Beach-based content creation company, where they created Cocaine Cowboys. The New York Times called Cocaine Cowboys, "a hyperventilating account of the blood-drenched Miami drug culture in the 1970s and 1980s.”[4] The film tells the story of how the drug trade built Miami through firsthand accounts of some of the most successful smugglers of the era and the deadliest hitman of the cocaine wars.

After a limited theatrical release in 2006, Cocaine Cowboys became the highest-rated documentary ever on the Showtime cable network.[5] The sequel, Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustling with the Godmother, was released in 2008.

The U, a feature documentary about the championship history of the University of Miami football program, produced by rakontur for ESPN's 30 for 30 series, became the highest-rated documentary in the network's 30-year history, when it debuted on December 12, 2009 following the Heisman Trophy presentation.[6]

In March 2011, he directed Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja, a documentary examining the free-wheeling pot smuggling era of South Florida in the 1970s, which premiered at the South By Southwest Film Festival. In April 2011, he directed Limelight about the rise and fall of Peter Gatien, New York City's biggest nightclub owner, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in September 2011.

In 2012, Corben produced Dawg Fight, a brutal exposé on underground backyard MMA fighting in one of Miami's toughest neighborhoods. Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami, about the sensational Miami-based federal trials of Sal Magluta and Willy Falcon, the most successful Cuban drug traffickers in history and Broke, a feature documentary project for ESPN examining the explosion of big money in sports and the epidemic of professional athletes who have gone broke.

In 2019, he co-wrote Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy alongside journalist and television writer Aurin Squire. Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy was a world-premiere documentary theatre piece commissioned by Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre based on Corben's Cocaine Cowboys documentaries.[7] The play used text from depositions, newspaper articles, and other found documents from the time. It ran at the Colony Theatre from March 7 to April 7, 2019.[8]

Other

Corben oversees the soundtracks for all of Rakontur's productions, assembling the artists for each project and working hands-on throughout the music production process. For Cocaine Cowboys, Grammy-winner Jan Hammer from Miami Vice composed and performed the original score. Hip-hop artist Luther Campbell performed the opening titles song for The U, Miami music fixture DJ Le Spam wrote his first ever film score for Square Grouper. On Limelight, Corben consulted with Grammy-winning electronic music pioneer Moby and the documentary's original score was written by Fast of the Fun Lovin' Criminals. In addition, Corben has contributed his own original songs to the soundtracks of Raw Deal: A Question of Consent, The U and Square Grouper.

Corben also serves as film critic on The Paul and Young Ron Show, a South Florida radio morning show, doing live segments every Friday. Corben and Rakontur are regular supporters of Miami-based Hope For Vision, a not-for-profit organization that donates money to fund scientific research to develop cures for blindness, the Borscht Film Festival, a group that supports and showcases Miami's independent filmmakers, and The 200 Club, an organization that gives financial support to the families of law enforcement officers and fire fighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Personal life

Corben resides in Miami, Florida.

Filmography

Director

Actor

Self

  • Raw Deal: A Question of Consent (documentary) (2001)
  • The Scarface Phenomenon (video documentary) (2011)
  • Rome Is Burning (TV series) (2011)

References

  1. ^ Ducassi, Daniel (8 March 2018). "Oscar winner's Miami alma mater on the chopping block — again". Politico PRO. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Film Threat - Raw Deal: A Question of Consent". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  3. ^ March 01, Daniel Fierman Updated; EST, 2002 at 05:00 AM. "News From Hollywood". EW.com. Retrieved 2023-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (27 October 2006). "A Culture Built of Guns, Drugs and Blood". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  5. ^ "Magnolia Pictures: Cocaine Cowboys". Magpictures.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  6. ^ Stuart Levine (2009-12-16). "'The U' sets docu record at ESPN". Variety. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  7. ^ Guerrasio, Jason. "'Cocaine Cowboys' is being made into a play after Hollywood failed for almost a decade to adapt it for TV". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  8. ^ "Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy". colonytheatre. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  9. ^ "Raw Deal: A Question of Consent". Rotten Tomatoes.
  10. ^ McCarthy, Todd (February 6, 2001). "Raw Deal: A Question of Consent". Variety.
  11. ^ "Raw Deal: A Question of Consent". Film Threat. January 26, 2001.
  12. ^ Barker, Adam (January 27, 2002). "A question of consent". The Guardian.
  13. ^ "Cocaine Cowboys". Rotten Tomatoes. 27 October 2006.
  14. ^ Murray, Noel (October 26, 2006). "Cocaine Cowboys". AV Club.
  15. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (27 October 2006). "Cocaine Cowboys (2006) A Culture Built of Guns, Drugs and Blood". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  16. ^ "Cocaine Cowboys". Film Threat. October 25, 2006.
  17. ^ Koehler, Robert (June 25, 2008). "Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin' With the Godmother". Variety.
  18. ^ Duran, Jose (July 29, 2008). "Cocaine Cowboys 2 Takes Its Cues From '90s West Coast Hood Flicks". Miami New Times.
  19. ^ Alvarado, Francisco (November 18, 2008). "Ego Trippin': Rakontur's Clubland Finally Hits the Web". Miami New Times.
  20. ^ Tobias, Scott (December 13, 2009). "30 For 30: "The U"". AV Club.
  21. ^ Levine, Stuart (December 16, 2009). "'The U' sets docu record at ESPN". Variety.
  22. ^ Deitsch, Richard (August 13, 2017). "Ranking the Best 30 for 30 Documentaries (So Far)". Sports Illustrated.
  23. ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (April 16, 2011). ""Square Grouper": A hilarious, tragic tale of Florida ganja". Salon.
  24. ^ "Square Grouper". Rotten Tomatoes. 15 April 2011.
  25. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (September 22, 2011). "Rise and Fall of a Nightclub Impresario". New York Times.
  26. ^ Weisberg, Sam (September 24, 2011). ""Limelight," the NYC club phenomenon that was". Screen Comment.
  27. ^ Tobias, Scott (October 2, 2012). "30 For 30: "Broke"". AV Club.
  28. ^ Martin, Vanessa (September 26, 2013). "Watch 'Collision Course,' Billy Corben's New ESPN '30 For 30' Short On The Murder Of Don Aronow (VIDEO)". HuffPost.
  29. ^ Williams, Brennan (February 25, 2014). "Steve Stoute Talks VH1 Docu-Series 'The Tanning Of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop'". HuffPost.
  30. ^ Kluger, Bryan (June 3, 2014). "Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded". High Def Digest.
  31. ^ Lowry, Brian (December 11, 2014). "TV Review: ESPN's 'The U Part 2'". Variety.
  32. ^ Rodriguez, Rene (March 6, 2015). "Dawg Fight". Miami Herald.
  33. ^ Valys, Phillip (March 10, 2015). "Billy Corben's 'Dawg Fight' steps into the ring". Sun-Sentinel.
  34. ^ "Watch Miami Beach 100". rakontur.
  35. ^ "New 'Magic City Hustle' Documentary Brings Jai Alai Back To Life". WLRN. March 1, 2019.
  36. ^ Rosenthal, Phil (April 1, 2019). "The gang that couldn't shoot up straight: 'Screwball' a comic take on A-Rod's PED scandal". Chicago Tribune.
  37. ^ Tallerico, Brian (March 29, 2019). "Screwball". RogerEbert.com.
  38. ^ Gay, Jason (March 28, 2019). "How A-Rod Explains Modern America". Wall Street Journal.
  39. ^ Schager, Nick (March 23, 2019). "'Screwball': Inside the Damning Steroid Movie Alex Rodriguez Doesn't Want You to See". The Daily Beast.
  40. ^ "Screwball". Rotten Tomatoes. 29 March 2019.
  41. ^ Roeper, Richard (October 20, 2020). "'537 Votes': How the Supreme Court and irate people in Miami picked a president". Chicago Sun-Times.
  42. ^ Kroll, Andy (October 22, 2020). "Remember Bush v. Gore — or Be Doomed to Repeat It". Rolling Stone.
  43. ^ "537 Votes". Rotten Tomatoes.
  44. ^ "Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami". Netflix. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  45. ^ "God Forbid". IMDb. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  46. ^ Barr, Jeremy (2024-09-07). "Rachel Maddow's first film is about Lev Parnas – and a surprise meeting". Style. Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2024-09-07. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  47. ^ Morfoot, Addie (2024-08-02). "Former U.S. Green Beret Jordan Goudreau Is the Subject of Upcoming Neon Documentary (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  48. ^ "'The Fanelli Boys' Oh, My Papas". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  49. ^ "'Empty Nest' Harry's Excellent Adventure". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  50. ^ "'Night Court' Bringing Down Baby". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
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