rakontur blog

rakontur’s Jenna Moshell graduates with honors from the University of Miami today…

The wait is over — Cocaine Cowboys II will premiere at the CineVegas Film Festival on Friday, June 20th.

Here’s the announcement.

More info as things develop.

Why Prisons Could Become Business Schools:

Watching a recent documentary called Cocaine Cowboys about the growth of the drug trade in Miami in the 1980s, I was reminded that many forms of crime are simply uninhibited capitalism – but on an illegal basis.

That implies that prisons are likely to be full of entrepreneurial talent that has strayed to the dark side. Moreover, there are plenty of hugely successful business leaders who have spent time inside, including Gerald Ronson, Martha Stewart and Lord Black, who is just starting his sentence in Florida.

• Recession Hits Las Vegas (Newsweek)
  Las Vegas used to be a recession-proof oasis. Not anymore.
  (tags: public)

I can’t say too much about this yet, but since Variety ran with this story this morning I thought I’d post it. Stay tuned for more details as they get worked out:

Bruckheimer, Bay eye reteam
Blockbuster duo consider drug drama
By CYNTHIA LITTLETON

Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay, together again?

It may happen at HBO, on a Warner Bros. TV drama series project loosely based on the 2006 docu “Cocaine Cowboys.”

If a deal comes together, series would revolve around the drug trade in Miami in the 1980s. Instead of the flash of Crockett and Tubbs, skein would focus on the cutthroat world of drug dealers and the Colombian cocaine kingpins who set up shop in the once-sleepy Florida city. Bruckheimer and Bay, who collaborated on a string of blockbusters in the 1990s including “Bad Boys,” “The Rock” and “Armageddon,” would serve as exec producers.

Insiders caution that no deal has been finalized between HBO and Warners, though the Time Warner siblings have been in discussions on the project for some time. There is no writer attached.

Docu “Cocaine Cowboys,” directed by Billy Corben, made the film fest rounds a few years back and was distribbed domestically by Magnolia Pictures. Corben’s followup doc, “Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin’ With the Godmother,” was acquired in February by Magnolia’s genre arm, Magnet.

The first “Cowboys” docu has already piqued Hollywood’s interest. Paramount is developing a feature about Jon Roberts, one of the drug lords profiled in the doc, with Mark Wahlberg attached to star and Peter Berg onboard to direct (Daily Variety, Jan. 18).

• Bill targets indoor marijuana growers (Miami Herald)
  One of Florida’s largest cash crops — ”grow house” marijuana — is being targeted in new legislation that state lawmakers swiftly approved Thursday and sent to Gov. Charlie Crist for his likely signature.
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• Cops seize $15 million in pot at South Florida houses (Miami Herald)
  In a single day, police agencies across South Florida raided dozens of homes and confiscated an estimated $15 million worth of marijuana being grown indoors.
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• Powdered cocaine not just for white yuppies any more (AP)
  More than 30 years later, the image remains but the reality of coke in the United States has shifted significantly. Long portrayed as a white crime, Hispanics now make up the overwhelming majority—60 percent—of federal offenders facing powder cocaine
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Flickr photoset

• Election Day in Florida May Look Familiar (NYTimes)
  Eight years after the debacle of “hanging chads,” Florida once again seems to be courting electoral trouble. A handful of laws have been passed since the 2000 presidential recount, with state officials saying they bring order to a chaotic system.
  (tags: public)
• America has and will follow Miami’s lead (T.D. Allman: Miami Herald)
  People were surprised when I called my book Miami: City of the Future. In the aftermath of the Marielito invasion and the Liberty City riots, the conventional wisdom was that Miami was finished — ”Paradise Lost,” ”not really a part of America anymore.
  (tags: public)
• Miami Herald: Get some nudity fast! (Miami New Times)
  The newest numbers from Editor and Publisher show Miami Herald circulation falling faster than virtually any other major American newspaper in the last six months.
  (tags: public)