Film maker Billy Corben is Rotary's guest speaker

The guest speaker at the Coconut Grove Rotary Luncheon this week is  Billy Corben, documentary film director and University of Miami Film School graduate.  

Billy is an American documentary film director and co-founder of the Miami based studio Rakontur. Along with producing partner Alfred Spellman, he has created films such as Cocaine Cowboys, Dawg Fight and ESPN's 30 for 30 The U and The U Part 2.  Billy was born in Fort Myers and raised in South Florida. As a child actor, he spent a large portion of his early days in Los Angeles. He graduated with honors from the University of Miami where he majored in political science, screenwriting, and theater.

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. 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 the movie “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 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, the movie became the highest-rated documentary ever on the Showtime cable network. The sequel, Cocaine Cowboys; Hustling with the Godmother, was released in 2008.

This week's luncheon is Thursday, March 2 at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club (2990 South Bayshore Drive) at 12:15 pm. The cost for lunch is $20. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Please join us.  RSVP at coconutgroverotaryclub@gmail.com.