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Netflix’s Accidental Elizabeth Holmes

Is Carl Rinsch, the erratic auteur behind a big-budget unfinished Netflix series, a calculating grifter who should spend 90 years in prison? Or is he merely a cautionary tale about reckless producing, ambitious prosecution, and the pitfalls of becoming a John Carreyrou protagonist?

Carl Rinsch
Did Rinsch set out to dupe Netflix, or did he intend to make a series before his mind splintered and the money went elsewhere? Photo: John Sciulli/Getty Images for Team One, Saatchi LA
Eriq Gardner
September 2, 2025

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It’s easy to look at the criminal case against Carl Rinsch in New York and marvel at the audacity of it all. In 2018, the writer-director secured $55 million from Netflix for a series called Conquest, and then allegedly blew a large portion of the budget on Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, a smattering of real estate, speculative crypto bets, and even divorce lawyers. When federal authorities unsealed fraud charges back in March, the reaction was a knowing chuckle. Hollywood, after all, has never lacked for audacious grifters.