Tag Archives: Billy Corben

Frotcast 548 – Frotting meets Doc-ing, with Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman

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This week Matt and Vince welcome master documentarians Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman from Rakontur Productions to the Frot to discuss the latest in Florida F*ckery. Billy and Alfred have become the documentarians laureate of South Florida with their films 537 Votes, Screwball, Dawg Fight, Cocaine Cowboys, The U, and God Forbid (et. al). These days, they’re working on From Russia With Lev, a feature doc about shady Trump/Giuliani associate turned turncoat Lev Parnas, and A Sunny Place for Shady People, a series of mini documentaries with Dan Le Batard that will look at scandals around the Miami area. More importantly, they’re great talkers, so we pick their brains about Florida scandals, the documentary-industrial complex, and something that in four previous interviews I’ve always forgotten to ask Billy about, his past as a child actor.
Plus, Vince and Matt discuss The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace, the most messed up, infuriating docuseries ever made.

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Frotcast: Billy Corben On ‘God Forbid’

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Good Night And Good Cuck

Director Billy Corben is absolutely SMASHING the record for the director with the most Frotcast appearances, with three or maybe even four already. Who can even say?! The man behind Cocaine Cowboys, The U, 537 Votes, Screwballs, et. al. is always a great interview — a “raconteur,” you might even say, which happens to be the name of his production company — so any time he has a movie out it’s a great excuse to get him on.

This week (month?) he has ‘God Forbid’ out on a Hulu, a documentary about Jerry Falwell Jr.’s swingery relationship with a “Miami pool boy” named Giancarlo Granda, who was really only a pool boy for one year of his life but now is forever associated with the phrase because of the scandal. Jerry ALLEGEDLY liked to watch Giancarlo have sex with his wife, Becki, but, because Giancarlo and Jerry caught tied up in a real estate deal with some sketchy Miami dudes, they ended up suing and the whole pool boy/swinger thing got out. ALSO, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen knew about the relationship and has claimed that he used this knowledge as leverage in trying to get Jerry Jr. to support Trump’s bid for president — which Jerry Jr did, and probably had some hand in evangelicals voting for Trump in record numbers.

Phew, now you know why this conversation lasted for a whole hour. Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have yous. Hope you enjoy, and don’t forget to check out God Forbid on Hulu.

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Frotcast Bonus: Billy Corben On ‘Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings Of Miami’

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Hey, Frotcast fans. I have this interview for you I did with Billy Corben this week. He directed The U, the Cocaine Cowboys movies, Screwball, Broke on 30 for 30 — I think this is the third time I’ve talked to him, so we sort of know each other by now. He’s a great talker and always a great interview. His latest is called Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings Of Miami, and it’s out on Netflix. It’s about these guys Sal Magluta and Willy Falcón who were trafficking cocaine in Miami in the 80s and 90s. Beyond that I don’t think there’s anything you need to know to understand it. My voice sounds a little weird at first because I was getting an echo and I had to put a filter on my track, but hopefully it isn’t too bad. It also goes away about halfway through.

We haven’t done many episodes on the free feed lately, just because we’ve been busy doing Pod Yourself A Gun, and those are all free. If you’re still thirsty for more content, you can always subscribe on Patreon at Patreon.com/Frotcast. Do that! It’ll be awesome! Anyway, here’s me and Billy Corben.

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Frotcast Bonus: Billy Corben And Alfred Spellman For ‘537 Votes’

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Normally this is the kind of thing I’d probably post on the premium feed for our Patreon subscribers (Patreon.com/Frotcast) but this interview seems, dare I say it… too important for that? Understanding what happened in 2000 in Florida, and specifically in Miami, and how it got us to where we are today seems like required viewing going into this election. That’s the subject of ‘537 Votes,’ the new documentary on HBO from director Billy Corben and his producing partner Alfred Spellman, whose films — Screwball, the Cocaine Cowboys movies, The U, Magic City Hustle… have largely all advanced the thesis that Florida and specifically Miami is a cautionary tale for the rest of America, culminating in their latest movie. In this chat, I pick their brains about why that is, how it came to be, and how they became the documentarian answer to Carl Hiaasen — making “Florida F*ckery” a genre all its own.

You can also read my profile of Billy and Alfred on Uproxx. Enjoy it and go vote even if it seems kinda pointless. 2000 was my first election and I voted even though it seemed kinda pointless then too but imagine how different things might be had it worked out a little differently.

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