Billy Corben
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 7:47AM 
Billy on Facebook
Billy on Twitter
Billy Corben was born in Florida and graduated with honors from the University of Miami where he majored in political science, screenwriting, and theater. As a young actor, Corben worked with Ron Howard, Roger Corman, Steve Martin, Hilary Swank, Cloris Leachman, Judd Hirsch, Corey Feldman, Alan Thicke, Joe Pantoliano and Christopher Meloni. He retired from acting at age 15 and began work on the other side of the camera. His 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. Considered by critics to be “one of the most controversial films of the modern day” and “one of the most compelling pieces of non-fiction ever produced,” (Film Threat Magazine), Raw Deal has been seen all over the world.
Following that success, Corben and producing partner Alfred Spellman founded rakontur, a Miami Beach-based content creation company, and took on another Florida true-crime story, this one closer to home. The New York Times called Cocaine Cowboys, “a hyperventilating account of the blood-drenched Miami drug culture in the 1970s and 1980s.” The film tells the story of how the drug trade built Corben's native city of 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 a worldwide success on DVD and the highest-rated documentary ever on the Showtime cable network. 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 12th, 2009, following the Heisman Trophy presentation.
In 10 years, rakontur has become one of the influential non-fiction production companies in the world. In 2007 and again in 2010, rakontur was selected for the RealScreen Global 100, “an annual list of the most exciting and influential production companies working in non-fiction film and television." Also in 2007, Corben and Spellman were listed among of "The 50 Most Influential People in Miami."
"They've created a whole new audience: an alternative, youth-leaning, nonfiction-seeking core," Tom Quinn, senior vice-president of Magnolia Pictures, told BusinessWeek in a 2008 profile on rakontur.
Since its humble beginnings, rakontur has evolved into a bona fide movie studio, with four non-fiction features scheduled for release in 2011:
In March, Square Grouper, examining the free-wheeling pot smuggling era of South Florida in the 1970s, premieres at the South By Southwest Film Festival; in April, Limelight, about the rise and fall of Peter Gatien, New York City's biggest nightclub owner; this Summer rakontur debuts, Cocaine Cowboys Remix, a wholesale re-edit of the original cult classic; and in the Fall, Dawg Fight, a brutal exposé on underground backyard MMA fighting in one of Miami's toughest neighborhoods, will debut.
2012 will see the release of another new installment of their hit documentary series, Cocaine Cowboys: Los Muchachos, about the sensational Miami-based federal trials of Sal Magluta and Willy Falcone, the most successful Cuban drug traffickers in history, and new feature documentary projects for ESPN and Bloomberg Television.
rakontur's development slate includes a Cocaine Cowboys dramatic series for HBO with executive producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay and the animated comedy series Miami Cowboys with executive producer Pharrell Williams.
Corben oversees the soundtracks for all of rakontur's productions, assembling the ideal artists for each project and working hands-on throughout the music production process. For Cocaine Cowboys, legendary Grammy-winner Jan Hammer (Miami Vice) composed and performed the original score; hip-hop icon 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, while the original score was written by Fast of the Fun Lovin' Criminals, a band that was actually formed among Limelight nightclub employees in the 1990s and signed by an A&R man from EMI who discovered them performing at the club. 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, South Florida's highest-rated English-language 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 virtually 100% of the money it raises 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.
rakontur
Reader Comments (9)
If you ever need an actor for one of your films and want to give the little people a chance look email me. I work on your budget.
Thanks
Kevin
HEY BILLY THE MOVIE WAS HOTT. WHEN YOU GONE DROP THE SOUNDTRACK???
hi there,
well done on cc2 excellent i wish you luck with 3 4and 5 surely the series will beg one thing an interview with griselda blanco.this would be absolute dynamite.have you wondered how she really got away with introducing cocaine to america?a qwestion you have to ask is what were the political connections that kept her in the clear(hint your pres has some habits of old)you are sitting on something that could blow up goverments but you havent seen the bigger picture yet.the night club thing is great but you are a filmaker potentially one of the best of your generation she will interview soon she is not very well..........another qwestion that needs asking is her use of santaria........ good luck keep up the good work
Hey
i just saw cociane cowboy's 1 and then 2 those to just are amazing how you putt it to all in to place i must say i have seen a lot of docu's of the cocaine periode around that time but yours are the most convinsing then other i have seen
you haven done a great job i hope to see more in the future frome you
kind regards
Ralf
from the netherlands
[...] DADA. We’re still figuring the project out, but here’s the extended reel that Dave and Billy [...]
The U
To get a real look, you should speak to my son, Adam Bates. A walk-on with the Canes and a Bowman Ashe Scholar. He was Kevin Everett's suite mate and then Willie Williams' "designated roommate". He graduated and is now in law school at the University of Michigan.
One of the really good ones.
Hey Billy, I really liked your documentary. I only wish it could've been longer! Is there any chance I can purchase a copy of it (I don't know if it's for sale yet)? My dad's in a rehab center right now recovering from open heart surgery and I really think he'd love to see it. He's on a ventilator so he can't really go anywhere, so I was hoping with a DVD version I could put it on a laptop and bring it to him. He's a former UM student from the mid 1950s (he never graduated but he was a walk-on with the football team as a student briefly). He lives and dies Hurricanes football, we both do. Anyway if there's a chance I can buy a copy of it to play for him I'd really appreciate it.
Billy,
Great job on the Miami documentaries. I was wondering if you would do a true crime documentary on one of the worst massacres in Miami that involved a crazy school teacher by the name of Robert Carl Brown. The incident occurred in 1982 where he went to a Miami welding shop where he did his killing. He was actually my school teacher and boy do I have actual events that occurred during class.
Leo
Billy hello from Key Largo. This is Howard from snappers and Dove Creek Lodge. I am also a board of director for the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce and we are talking with Humphrey Bogart's management people about doing a film festival in Key largo. We are setting up a meeting with Sean Ferer who handles to discuss this issue on September7th. We would like to know if you would have any interest in siting on our board for the festival. We are talking to John Landau also who lives in Key Largo as well. The Bogart/Key Largo connection is very appealing to the management team. If you have any interest at all please contact me, I just got square grouper and loved it