By Michael Kunzelman
NEW ORLEANS (AP) --A movie producer has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to bribe a former Louisiana film commissioner for tax breaks.
U.S. District Judge Lance Africk on Thursday also ordered 39-year-old Malcolm Petal of New Orleans to pay about $1.3 million in restitution to the state, plus a $15,000 fine.
Petal, who pleaded guilty in December, was chief executive of the Louisiana Institute of Film Technology when he allegedly used lawyer William Bradley as middleman for bribe money paid to former state film commissioner Mark Smith.
Smith pleaded guilty in 2007 to taking about $65,000 in bribes to inflate state tax credits and is awaiting sentencing. Bradley awaits sentencing after pleading guilty in March to a conspiracy charge.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More