Night Watch: The $55 Million Netflix Mirage of Carl Rinsch

Summary

Crime House 24/7: Night Watch
Episode: The $55 Million Netflix Mirage of Carl Rinsch
Host: Katie Ring
Date: January 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this Night Watch episode, host Katie Ring dives into the true-crime saga surrounding director Carl Rinsch and the collapse of his ambitious Netflix TV series “Conquest” (originally “White Horse”). What began as a $55 million creative bet by Netflix turned into a federal fraud case, culminating in Rinsch being convicted of fraud and money laundering. Ring explores Rinsch’s Hollywood rise, the streaming wars gamble, a paper trail of misused production funds, and the broader implications for risk and accountability in the creative industries.

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1. The Rise and Fall of Carl Rinsch

• Early Career and Breakthrough

  • Carl Eric Rinsch found early success in Hollywood, directing high-end commercials and short films (notably, “The Gift”—Cannes 2010).
  • He directed the big-budget fantasy “47 Ronin” (2013) starring Keanu Reeves, but the film underperformed, losing millions for Universal Pictures.
  • Quote:

    “A miss at that scale doesn't go unnoticed, especially for a director.” (Katie Ring, 04:04)

• Second Chance: White Horse

  • Despite the setback, Rinsch remained a Hollywood curiosity for his visual storytelling skill.
  • Alongside his wife, model and designer Gabriela Rosas Bentancourt, he developed “White Horse,” a sci-fi project about a scientist and intelligent clones—ambitious, expensive, and “built to scale.”
  • In the late 2010s streaming wars, content-hungry platforms like Netflix were willing to bet big on visionary creators.

2. Netflix’s $55 Million Bet — And the Unraveling

• Deal Structure and Early Production

  • By 2018, “White Horse” attracted bids from multiple platforms; Netflix emerged the winner, agreeing to pay Rinsch’s company around $44 million up front (2018–2019), with final creative control.
  • In March 2020, Netflix paid an additional $11 million to finish the series, expecting a completed product.
  • Key Detail:

    “Netflix even gave Rinsch final cut privileges, meaning he had total creative control over what the show would look like.” (Katie Ring, 07:38)

• Financial Shenanigans Begin

  • Almost immediately, instead of going to production, the extra funds were transferred through company and personal accounts.
  • Rinsch consolidated $10.5 million into his own brokerage account, using it for high-risk stock market options trades.
  • Quote:

    “At this point, production money was no longer being treated as production money. Instead, it was being positioned for speculative financial activity.” (Katie Ring, 10:53)

  • He lost more than half of the $11 million within weeks.

• Netflix Left in the Dark

  • Rinsch continued to assure Netflix the project was “awesome and moving forward really well” (11:48), while the money vanished in risky trades.
  • Behind the scenes, his marriage was breaking down and on-set behavior became erratic—including outlandish claims about COVID-19 and secret discoveries.
  • Quote:

    “He made unusual claims, including that he had discovered COVID-19’s secret transmission mechanism and that he could predict lightning strikes.” (Katie Ring, 12:36)

  • By late 2020: the show was unfinished, millions were gone, and divorce proceedings began.

3. From Stock Market Gambling to Crypto—and Personal Splurges

• Cryptocurrency Investments

  • In 2021, Rinsch moved remaining funds to a personal cryptocurrency exchange account. This time he reversed his prior losses, turning a profit as crypto values rose.
  • Still, no money was returned to Netflix or the production; instead, he began lavish personal spending.

• Lavish Expenditures

  • Between June 2021 and November 2022, Rinsch spent ~$10 million of the Netflix money on personal and luxury purchases:
    • $1.78M on personal credit cards
    • $1.07M on legal fees related to the show and divorce
    • ~$395K on hotels/rentals (e.g., Four Seasons)
    • ~$3.8M on furniture, antiques, including $638K on two Swedish mattresses he later claimed were “props”
    • ~$2.4M on high-end vehicles – five Rolls Royces, a Ferrari
    • ~$650K on watches and designer clothing
  • Quote:

    “He spent approximately $395,000 on luxury hotels and rentals, including the Four Seasons, nearly $3.8 million on furniture, decor, and antiques... roughly $2.4 million on high end vehicles, including five Rolls Royces and one Ferrari...” (Katie Ring, 13:53)

4. Legal Showdown—From Hollywood to Federal Court

• Netflix Fights Back

  • Executives became suspicious, missed meetings piled up, and eventually, Rinsch used Netflix-funded money to hire attorneys to sue Netflix for more compensation.
  • The case went to arbitration, which ruled “in Netflix's favor,” ordering Rinsch to pay back $11.8 million.

• Federal Charges Filed

  • The FBI and IRS began investigating in 2023–2024.
  • On March 18, 2025, federal charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and unlawful monetary transactions were unsealed; Rinsch was arrested in West Hollywood.
  • Quote:

    “Prosecutors unsealed a federal indictment charging Carl Rinsch with wire fraud, money laundering and multiple counts related to engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.” (Katie Ring, 20:20)

5. The Trial—the Defense, Prosecution, and Verdict

• Insanity Defense and Testimony

  • Rinsch’s legal team claimed he was in “a state of psychosis” during the production, planning to call a psychiatrist who attributed his behavior to stimulant use and pandemic stress.

• Key Evidence and Testimonies

  • Rinsch’s assistant testified he instructed her to make luxury purchases quickly, referencing Brewster’s Millions—a film about spending a windfall in 30 days:
    • Quote:

      “He texted her, ‘Get all that Hermès stuff now. This is your job. We have to do this, or else the money goes bye bye. Get it?’” (Katie Ring, 22:28)

  • Jury saw incomplete, incoherent “Conquest” footage; experts testified no finished show existed.

• Arguments

  • Prosecution: Focused on the “simple timeline”—Netflix paid $11M for completion; show wasn’t finished; money never spent as promised.
  • Defense: Framed case as a high-stakes business/creative dispute, warning that criminalizing failure could “affect artistic risk taking across the industry”.

• Verdict

  • On December 11, 2025, Carl Rinsch was found guilty of:

    • One count of wire fraud (max 20 yrs)
    • One count of money laundering (max 20 yrs)
    • Five counts of monetary transactions with criminally derived property (max 10 yrs each)

  • Sentencing set for April 17, 2026; Rinsch is out on bond awaiting sentencing.

  • Memorable closing thought:

    “There is a point where failure stops being creative and starts being criminal.” (Katie Ring, 24:57)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Rinsch’s deceptive communications:

  “He went as far as to send messages to Netflix executive Cindy Holland characterizing the project as awesome and moving forward really well, all while allegedly failing to disclose that millions of dollars intended for production had been lost…” (Katie Ring, 11:48)

• On the show’s fate:

  “Jurors also saw early Conquest footage to prove that what existed of the show wasn’t coherent or complete enough to be shaped into even a single episode, let alone a full season.” (Katie Ring, 22:57)

• On the broader industry impact:

  “Criminalizing that process, the defense warned, could affect artistic risk taking across the industry.” (Katie Ring, 23:54)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:20 – Rinsch’s Hollywood background and early career
• 06:43 – The making and pitch of “White Horse”
• 07:38 – Netflix’s $55 million investment and final cut privileges
• 10:51 – March 2020: Funds are diverted and risky financial trades begin
• 12:15 – Onset of erratic behavior, marriage dissolution
• 13:53 – Luxury personal spending breakdown
• 16:40 – Netflix arbitration and order for Rinsch to pay back $11.8M
• 20:20 – Arrest and federal indictment
• 21:35 – Defense’s insanity claim
• 22:28 – Assistant’s testimony about Brewster’s Millions reference
• 24:57 – Jury’s guilty verdict and host’s closing words
• 25:31 – Episode wrap-up and listener call to action

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Summary Conclusion

This episode untangles the Hollywood dream, financial mismanagement, and criminal consequences of Carl Rinsch’s Netflix project gone awry. Through clear storytelling, Katie Ring reveals how industry trust and creative risk can cross the line into federal fraud—raising tough questions for the future of big-budget content and creative freedom.

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For more episodes and updates, follow Crime House 24/7 and Night Watch on your preferred podcast platforms and YouTube.

Transcript

[Vanessa Richardson]

Hi Crime House community, It's Vanessa Richardson. Exciting news. Conspiracy theories, cults and crimes is leveling up. Starting the week of January 12th, you'll be getting two episodes every week. Wednesdays we unravel the conspiracy or the cult and on Fridays we look at a corresponding crime. Every week has a theme. Tech, bioterror, power, paranoia, you name it. Follow conspiracy theories, cults and crimes now on your podcast app because you're about to dive deeper, get weirder and go darker than ever before.

[Crime House Announcer]

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[Katie Ring]

A $55 million Netflix deal handed a director the keys to a sci fi dream and years later that dream unraveled into a federal fraud investigation. Welcome to Night watch on Crime House 24 7. I'm your host Katie Ring and together we'll be following the cases making headlines now where justice is still unfolding. Follow us wherever you are listening and if you want ad free episodes, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts plus subscribe to our YouTube channelightwatchpod. This episode discusses an active criminal case. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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[Katie Ring]

Before tonight's story became a federal case, it began the way so many Hollywood stories do, with a director and an idea. But somewhere along the way, millions meant for a TV series became the subject of a wire fraud investigation and the director would be branded as Netflix's Elizabeth Holmes. Let's get into it 48 year old Carl Eric Rinsch was an American filmmaker who emerged from the world of high end commercials and visual effects. But his love of filmmaking started when he was a teenager and took a short film class at the University of Southern California. After high school, Carl headed east to study at Brown University and Columbia University. His Hollywood career got quite the kickstart after accepting a job at Ridley Scott Associates, founded by Ridley Scott, one of Hollywood's most influential directors. During his time there, he directed a short film called the Gift that earned major recognition in the 2010 Cannes Lines International Festival of Creativity. By then, he'd already built a reputation Inside the industry. So it wasn't long before he was tapped by Universal Pictures to direct his first major feature film, 47 Ronin. The 2013 fantasy action film starred Keanu Reeves. It was a big budget studio swing built on Japanese folklore. The expectations were enormous. The budget was reported to be around $175 million. But unfortunately, 47 Ronin didn't deliver at the level that the price tag demanded, finishing with roughly $152 million worldwide. It wasn't the career defining success many had hoped for. Universal Pictures took a major financial hit. Reviews were mainly negative, and a miss at that scale doesn't go unnoticed, especially for a director. But eventually, Carl would be given a second chance at the opportunity of a lifetime, millions of dollars to make his dream project. But unfortunately, the only thing created was the question, how does a big budget director turn a TV series into a federal criminal case? When Carl Rinsch's blockbuster movie didn't pan out to be a success, he didn't let that singular failure define him. Amid the challenges to make a name for himself in the industry, his romantic life was thriving. Carl married Uruguayan model and fashion designer Gabriela Rosas Bentancourt in 2014. And while his personal life was settling into a new chapter, Hollywood was still watching him. Any director who has been trusted with a nine figure studio film stays on the industry's radar. To some executives, that makes them risky. To others, it makes them intriguing. Rynch fell into that category. He had demonstrated an ability to build large, visually ambitious worlds, which became more prevalent as Hollywood shifted away from traditional studios and towards streaming platforms. By the late 2000 and tens, traditional Hollywood rules were breaking down. Pilot seasons were disappearing. Executives were green lighting entire series based on pitch decks and maybe most importantly, banking entire projects on faith in a creator's originality. And that made Wrench's next idea feel less like a gamble and more like a second chance. Wrench worked on a passion project with his wife, a TV series called White Horse. Filming on the pitch for the proposed series began as early as 2016, years before any major streamer knew it even existed. Over time, he created roughly six short form episodes and a trailer was produced. They weren't a finished season, but it was proof of concept material created to pitch big networks and streamers and demonstrated the tone of the show. The concept of White Horse itself was ambitious. It's a sci fi story centered on advanced technology and a scientist who creates a group of highly intelligent clones. This wasn't designed to be small. If it was going to work, it had to be built to scale. And that meant a big budget. And by 2018, the project had attracted serious streaming interest from major streamers, including Amazon, hbo, Apple, and Netflix. Federal court documents state that Rynch began discussions with multiple streaming platforms about acquiring the project and funding its completion. It looked like Whitehorse was finally getting some legs to stand on, because in the streaming era, creative freedom was the product being sold. And in Rynch's favor, science fiction was seen as global, evergreen, and scalable. And that's when negotiations around White Horse intensified. Eventually, one platform emerged as the buyer. Netflix. Between June 2018 and October of 2019, Netflix paid Rynch's production company approximately $44 million to produce White Horse, later to be called Conquest. Under the deal, Netflix expected Conquest to be completed during the period it was funding the production. The money invested was a reflection of Netflix's excitement around the project and a belief that a complex, ambitious project will eventually deliver. Netflix even gave Rynch final cut privileges, meaning he had total creative control over what the show would look like. But as 2019 came to a close, Netflix started pressing for answers because they still did not have a completed season of Conquest. According to court records, Wrench requested additional funds from Netflix to finish the project, and they discussed how the money would be used to fund the final stages of development. This includes remaining shoots, post production, and the work necessary to turn Conquest into a complete release ready season. Netflix did not simply wire the money without discussion. There were direct conversations, expectations, and conditions. So by early March 2020, Netflix sent Wrench approximately $11 million more, with the understanding that this money was explicitly intended to complete the series. At the time, nothing about the transfer was public. These kinds of wire transfers happen all the time in the entertainment industry. But within weeks, that money began traveling down a very different path. March 2020 marked a turning point in the project. It quietly stopped functioning like a production and began functioning like a financial shell. And within weeks, Wrench's funds began moving.

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In March 2020, Carl R allegedly transferred large portions of the budget money through multiple bank accounts, including accounts held in the name of his production company, a trust associated with him and his own personal personal accounts. Roughly $10.5 million of the Netflix funds had been consolidated into a personal brokerage accounts controlled by Rynch. This is important to note because it marks the point at which production money was no longer being treated as production money. Instead, it was being positioned for speculative financial activity. Once the money was in the brokerage account, its alleged wrench began making high risk stock market trades, including call options on a biopharmaceutical company. Call options are essentially bets that the company's stock price would rise sharply in a short period of time. He also had put options tied to an exchange traded fund that tracks the S&P 500, meaning bets that the broader stock market would fall. These kinds of trades aren't designed to slowly grow money or protect it. They're time sensitive, risky wagers that can produce massive gains quickly or wipe out large sums just as fast. And his bets went the wrong way. By the end of April 2020, Rynch had lost more than half of the $11 million in just weeks. It wasn't a slow bleed, it was a total collapse. At the same time these losses were mounting. Prosecutors allege Rynch was communicating something completely different to Netflix. He went as far as to send messages Messages to Netflix executive Cindy Holland characterizing the project as awesome and moving forward really well, all while allegedly failing to disclose that millions of dollars intended for production had been lost in the stock market. Ranch lied to reassure the company and conceal what was actually happening with the funds. Fast forward a few months to mid-2020, and conquest was still not completed, and the money meant to finish it was largely gone. And according to accounts from people working on the project, Netflix's concerns weren't just about delays. They were also about his behavior. The New York Times reported that members of the cast and crew described Rynch's behavior on set as increasingly erratic and that he made unusual claims, including that he had discovered Covid 19's secret transmission mechanism and that he could predict lightning strikes. And privately, his marriage was unraveling, too. His wife filed for divorce in 2020, a split allegedly connected to the broader fallout around this project. If the story ended there, it would already be remarkable. But there's even more. Between approximately February 2021 and May 2021, WRENCH transferred nearly all of the remaining Netflix funds into a cryptocurrency exchange account in his own name. This time, the gamble paid off. Wrench's cryptocurrency investments ultimately became profitable, recovering the previous losses and generating new gains. In plain terms, that means he used the production money to buy cryptocurrency through the exchange, and as crypto prices rose, the value of what he held rose with it. When you buy an asset at one price and it later trades higher, you can gain profits by either selling it or converting it back into cash. But even then, the money still did not return to production, and Conquest remained unfinished. Beginning in mid-2021, the recovered and remaining funds from his crypto exchange win began flowing into personal spending. Between approximately June 2021 and November of 2022, Wrench allegedly spent around $10 million of the Netflix money on luxury items and personal expenses. So let's walk through what the spending included about $1.78 million towards personal credit card bills, about $1.07 million on legal fees, some tied to contractual matters around the project, and other fees tied to his 2020 divorce. He spent approximately $395,000 on luxury hotels and rentals, including the Four Seasons, nearly $3.8 million on furniture, decor, and antiques, including about $638,000 on two handcrafted Swedish mattresses and linens that he later claimed were intended to be props for the second season that Netflix never signed off on. Roughly $2.4 million on high end vehicles, including five Rolls Royces and one Ferrari, and more than $650,000 on watches and designer clothing. And by the end of 2022, conquest was never completed and none of the $11 million was ever returned. Eventually, there had to be a breaking point, and the dispute between Wrench and Netflix escalated. Behind closed doors, Netflix executives grew increasingly concerned as months passed without meaningful progress, missed meetings piled up and the questions about the project's status went unanswered. Wrench eventually had the audacity to use Netflix funded money to hire attorneys to sue the company itself, claiming that additional compensation was owed on the project. In return, Netflix disputed the claim and took the matter into arbitration, and they ruled in Netflix's favor. Brinch was ordered to pay Netflix roughly $11.8 million, and as of this recording, it's unclear if he has paid them back yet. But regardless, there was now a clear, traceable record of where the money went and where it didn't, and Netflix had the receipts. The story moved out of Hollywood and into the federal justice system. The investigation was led by the FBI and the IRS and Prosecuted by the U.S. attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York. The exact moment that the federal investigation opened is not public, but what is clear from the court filings and charging documents is what the investigation ultimately focused on the money. In 2023 and 2024, federal investigators began formally examining the flow of money tied to Conquest. They started with financial records, bank transfers, brokerage statements, and cryptocurrency exchange logs. Every transfer was documented and on March 18, 2025, everything went public.

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[Katie Ring]

Prosecutors unsealed a federal indictment charging Carl Rynch with wire fraud, money laundering and multiple counts related to engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property. The indictment alleged that Wrench had obtained $11 million by falsely representing it would be used to finish Conquest, then diverted it through more multiple accounts, speculative investments and personal spending. Later that day, Ranch was arrested in West Hollywood, California. He appeared in federal court with shackles on his arms and legs and agreed to post a $100,000 bond. The case was immediately transferred to the Southern District of New York so he could face charges there, since that's the District handling his prosecution. On August 18, 2025, during pre trial motions, Wrench's attorney, Benjamin Zemin claimed he intended to argue that his client was in a state of psychosis during the production of Conquest and should not be held liable for defrauding Netflix. He added that they intend to call a psychiatrist, Dr. John Mariani, to testify that Wrench's mental state was due to his use of stimulants and the impact the COVID 19 pandemic had on his mental health. By December of 2025, over the course of roughly one week, Rynch's trial officially began. According to prosecutors, this wasn't a question of whether a show went over budget or collapsed under creative pressure. It was a question of where the money went. Jurors went on to hear testimony from a very broad array of people. His former assistant testified that she made luxury purchases on his behalf, specifically the brand Hermes. He texted her, quote, get all that Hermes stuff now. This is your job. We have to do this, or else the money goes bye bye. Get it? She also claimed that he compared his situation with Netflix to the film Brewster's Millions, which just so happens to be about a man who received a $30 million windfall from a family member, but he has to spend it all within 30 days. Former Netflix executives also took the stand, as well as investigators, financial experts, and even luxury mattress salesperson. Like I said, a wide array of people. Jurors also saw early Conquest footage to prove that what existed of the show wasn't coherent or complete enough to be shaped into even a single episode, let alone a full season. Prosecutors walked the jury through a simple timeline. Netflix paid an additional $11 million to finish a show. The show was never finished, and the money never went to where it was promised to go. The defense pushed back hard. They did not deny that the project failed or that the money passed through Rynch's accounts. Instead, they framed the situation as a business and creative dispute, one where a director was given freedom to manage funds and make decisions, even risky ones, in pursuit of a final product. They argued that productions collapse all the time, budgets shift, and unconventional financial decisions rampant are sometimes part of trying to save a failing project. Criminalizing that process, the defense warned, could affect artistic risk taking across the industry. But the jury's task was not to decide whether Rych was a difficult creator or whether Conquest could have been great. They had to decide if the money was used fraudulently, and after a week in trial, the jury returned its verdict. On December 11, 2025, Carl Rinsch was found guilty of on one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. One count of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Following the verdict, Wrench's attorney criticized the outcome, reiterating concerns that the case blurred the line between creative disputes and criminal conduct. As of this recording, Wrench's sentencing is scheduled for April 17, 2026. Wrench is not yet in prison, since it's common for defendants in federal cases to be released on bond or remain under supervision while they await sentencing. Hollywood will always produce ambitious ideas. Most of them won't work, but there is a point where failure stops being creative and starts being criminal. We'll be sure to bring you all of the major updates ahead of Carl Rinsch's sentencing, but in the meantime, be sure to follow us rimehouse24 7 for any breaking news. What did you think of tonight's case? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. See you next time. If you haven't already, make sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channelightwatchpod. Your support means everything.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Looking for your next listen? Hi, it's Vanessa Richardson and I have exciting news. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is leveling up starting the week of January 12th. You'll be getting two episodes every week. Wednesdays we unravel the conspiracy or the cult, and on Fridays we look at a corresponding crime. Follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen.

[Katie Ring]

To.