RI's Verdi Productions to team with Scorsese, DiCaprio to film action thriller in October
EAST GREENWICH – Rhode Island movie producer Chad A. Verdi Sr. will team up with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio to film several movies in Rhode Island over the next five years, Verdi Productions announced on Tuesday, May 27.
First up will be the action thriller "Carthage Must Be Destroyed," with casting already begun for filming to start in the Ocean State in October.
In addition to Verdi, Scorsese and DiCaprio, "Carthage" will be produced by LBI Entertainment's Christopher Donelly and Gareth West, with Michelle Verdi, Chad Verdi Jr., Paul Luba, Jennifer Davisson, Lisa Frechette and Sera Verdi on the production team. The production companies are Sikelia Productions, Appian Way Productions, Verdi Productions, and Ketchup Entertainment.
"Carthage" will be directed by Ted Griffin, writer of "Ocean's Eleven."
The story follows a stranger in a rust-belt city in decline that is ruled by the criminal underworld. The stranger looks to create chaos to bring the downfall of the corrupt power structure.
Verdi Productions will spend more than $150 million over the next five years on roughly 20 projects, some of which will include the involvement of Scorsese and DiCaprio, according to Verdi Sr.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Scorsese, DiCaprio, Verdi Productions film Carthage Must Be Destroyed
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5 days ago
- Yahoo
Burglars clean out father-son jewelers, snatch heirlooms, 'a lifetime's worth of work'
Simi Valley business owner Jonathan Youssef raced to his modest jewelry and repair shop on Memorial Day morning, fearing the worst. The business owner next door had called him just after 6 a.m. to say that burglars had broken into their coffee and candy store and also breached Youssef's establishment, 5 Star Jewelry & Watch Repair. His father and the shop's founder, 71-year-old Jacoub Youssef, had already reached the store located inside a strip mall. The safe appeared intact. Jacoub tried to reassure his just-arriving son — and perhaps himself: "They didn't open the safe." But Jonathan wasn't so sure. 'It was like a movie, like 'Ocean's Eleven' or 'The Italian Job,'' said Jonathan Youssef, the store's co-owner. 'I couldn't believe it, but I told my dad to open the safe.' The patriarch did so, only to find gold bullion, customer jewelry, decades of savings and other items missing. 'It was a lifetime's worth of work — of struggle — gone, just gone,' Jonathan Youssef told The Times on Tuesday evening as he fought back tears. 'Everything we owned and, worse, family heirlooms of our customers are gone. It's unthinkable.' Simi Valley police received a call at 6:33 a.m. from the Youssefs. Senior Officer Casey Nicholson said an unknown number of burglars gained access to Dr. Conkey's Candy & Coffee shop next door through the roof. Nicholson did not confirm how the burglars moved into the jewelry and repair shop, noting that the crime was still under investigation. Surveillance footage provided to KTLA showed burglars crawling on the floor. Jonathan Youssef said detectives told him the burglars spray-painted security cameras as they entered Dr. Conkey's. They then spent about three hours cutting through both walls and about eight inches of his 5,000-pound safe. They cut a crate-sized hole and seized everything inside. 'They were no slouches, and this wasn't their first rodeo,' Jonathan Youssef said of the burglars. 'They knew where the cameras were, how to evade detection and what equipment to use to get into the safe.' Jonathan Youssef estimated his store lost between $2 million and $2.5 million in personal inventory — gold bullion, silver bars, white gold and platinum pieces, cash, multiple high-end Rolex, TAG Heuer and Omega watches, center-stone diamond engagement rings and more. 'It was store merchandise and the accumulation of a lifetime's worth of work for my dad,' Jonathan Youssef said. 'He's been devastated over the loss.' Jonathan Youssef said his father had been 'too distraught' to speak with the media. The elder Youssef emigrated to the United States from Egypt in the early 1970s as a 19-year-old. He's owned several other small businesses and handed over the jewelry store, which he opened 25 years earlier, to his son in 2015, Jonathan Youssef said. They had just decided to reduce store hours as his father neared retirement; Jonathan had purchased a sign Monday reflecting the change. 'He was slowly dwindling his hours away from the store until his actual retirement at the end of the year,' Jonathan Youssef said. But those plans are now in flux. Read more: In cinema-style heist, tunneling thieves steal millions in gold, jewels from downtown L.A. store The younger Youssef said his store couldn't afford to insure what was in their safe, so it's a total loss. The only part that is covered by insurance is the damaged and ultimately ineffective safe, Jonathan Youssef said. 'My father doesn't want to retire now," the son said. "He wants to work to help recoup some of these losses." The younger Youssef estimates the store is in the red several hundred thousand dollars because of the loss of jewelry belonging to roughly 100 neighborhood customers. He said the store's main business was not selling jewelry, but altering and repairing it. 'Those are the irreplaceable items that are difficult to accept,' Jonathan Youssef said. 'I could care less about our inventory.' Since news broke, customers have turned the store into a de facto memorial site, Jonathan Youssef said. 'I've had ladies coming here and crying about their stolen engagement rings or grandma's diamond earrings,' he said. 'There was a guy who screamed in my face about his wife's wedding ring, and it just hurts. It's rough.' Read more: Long Beach man who bragged about crime on Instagram pleads guilty to $2.6-million jewelry heist Kathi Van Etten, chief executive and president of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the burglary shocked the neighborhood. 'It's so hard because this is such a safe community and you don't expect these types of things to happen,' she said. 'And they did everything right, from having security and taking precautions.' Van Etten said some chamber members had reached out to her to ask how they could help. She said some were planning to bring meals to the Youssefs. 'This is the type of community where people stick together and help each other,' Van Etten said. The younger Youssef said he'd been sustained by community members who had delivered well wishes and hugs since shortly after the burglary. One of his top customers created an online fundraising campaign, hoping to raise $20,000 to help defray some of the losses. The fund has nearly hit $18,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. 'My family is grateful to Simi Valley, to our community, for everything,' he said. 'We have an obligation to this community, and we're not going to rest until everyone who lost something is compensated.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Burglars clean out father-son jewelers, snatch heirlooms, ‘a lifetime's worth of work'
Simi Valley business owner Jonathan Youssef raced to his modest jewelry and repair shop on Memorial Day morning, fearing the worst. The business owner next door had called him just after 6 a.m. to say that burglars had broken into their coffee and candy store and also breached Youssef's establishment, 5 Star Jewelry & Watch Repair. His father and the shop's founder, 71-year-old Jacoub Youssef, had already reached the store located inside a strip mall. The safe appeared intact. Jacoub tried to reassure his just-arriving son — and perhaps himself: 'They didn't open the safe.' But Jonathan wasn't so sure. 'It was like a movie, like 'Ocean's Eleven' or 'The Italian Job,'' said Jonathan Youssef, the store's co-owner. 'I couldn't believe it, but I told my dad to open the safe.' The patriarch did so, only to find gold bullion, customer jewelry, decades of savings and other items missing. 'It was a lifetime's worth of work — of struggle — gone, just gone,' Jonathan Youssef told The Times on Tuesday evening as he fought back tears. 'Everything we owned and, worse, family heirlooms of our customers are gone. It's unthinkable.' Simi Valley police received a call at 6:33 a.m. from the Youssefs. Senior Officer Casey Nicholson said an unknown number of burglars gained access to Dr. Conkey's Candy & Coffee shop next door through the roof. Nicholson did not confirm how the burglars moved into the jewelry and repair shop, noting that the crime was still under investigation. Surveillance footage provided to KTLA showed burglars crawling on the floor. Jonathan Youssef said detectives told him the burglars spray-painted security cameras as they entered Dr. Conkey's. They then spent about three hours cutting through both walls and about eight inches of his 5,000-pound safe. They cut a crate-sized hole and seized everything inside. 'They were no slouches, and this wasn't their first rodeo,' Jonathan Youssef said of the burglars. 'They knew where the cameras were, how to evade detection and what equipment to use to get into the safe.' Jonathan Youssef estimated his store lost between $2 million and $2.5 million in personal inventory — gold bullion, silver bars, white gold and platinum pieces, cash, multiple high-end Rolex, TAG Heuer and Omega watches, center-stone diamond engagement rings and more. 'It was store merchandise and the accumulation of a lifetime's worth of work for my dad,' Jonathan Youssef said. 'He's been devastated over the loss.' Jonathan Youssef said his father had been 'too distraught' to speak with the media. The elder Youssef emigrated to the United States from Egypt in the early 1970s as a 19-year-old. He's owned several other small businesses and handed over the jewelry store, which he opened 25 years earlier, to his son in 2015, Jonathan Youssef said. They had just decided to reduce store hours as his father neared retirement; Jonathan had purchased a sign Monday reflecting the change. 'He was slowly dwindling his hours away from the store until his actual retirement at the end of the year,' Jonathan Youssef said. But those plans are now in flux. The younger Youssef said his store couldn't afford to insure what was in their safe, so it's a total loss. The only part that is covered by insurance is the damaged and ultimately ineffective safe, Jonathan Youssef said. 'My father doesn't want to retire now,' the son said. 'He wants to work to help recoup some of these losses.' The younger Youssef estimates the store is in the red several hundred thousand dollars because of the loss of jewelry belonging to roughly 100 neighborhood customers. He said the store's main business was not selling jewelry, but altering and repairing it. 'Those are the irreplaceable items that are difficult to accept,' Jonathan Youssef said. 'I could care less about our inventory.' Since news broke, customers have turned the store into a de facto memorial site, Jonathan Youssef said. 'I've had ladies coming here and crying about their stolen engagement rings or grandma's diamond earrings,' he said. 'There was a guy who screamed in my face about his wife's wedding ring, and it just hurts. It's rough.' Kathi Van Etten, chief executive and president of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the burglary shocked the neighborhood. 'It's so hard because this is such a safe community and you don't expect these types of things to happen,' she said. 'And they did everything right, from having security and taking precautions.' Van Etten said some chamber members had reached out to her to ask how they could help. She said some were planning to bring meals to the Youssefs. 'This is the type of community where people stick together and help each other,' Van Etten said. The younger Youssef said he'd been sustained by community members who had delivered well wishes and hugs since shortly after the burglary. One of his top customers created an online fundraising campaign, hoping to raise $20,000 to help defray some of the losses. The fund has nearly hit $18,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. 'My family is grateful to Simi Valley, to our community, for everything,' he said. 'We have an obligation to this community, and we're not going to rest until everyone who lost something is compensated.'
5 days ago
Thieves cut through candy store to steal $2M in jewelry store heist
In a heist reminiscent of "Ocean's Eleven," thieves broke into a Southern California candy store and then cut their way into a neighboring jewelry shop, stealing more than $2 million in cash and jewelry from the safe of the family business, according to ABC station KABC. Security cameras showed one of the burglars crawling on his stomach through the candy store, according to the station. The suspect then cut through the wall to get into 5 Star Jewelry and Watch Repair on Cochran Street in Simi Valley. The burglars worked for more than three hours to cut through both concrete and a thick safe. "This wasn't random," Ted Mackrel, owner of Dr. Conkey's Candy and Coffee told KABC. "They sawed a hole in our roof Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend and managed to dodge all security systems." Mackrel discovered the break-in around 6:30 a.m. Monday when staff reported something was wrong. "Our whole gift area was torn apart, and there was a big hole in the wall leading to the jewelry store." The robbery hit hard for Jonathan Youssef and his 71-year-old father, who have owned 5 Star Jewelry for 25 years. "They took everything we worked for," Youssef told KABC. "My dad's retirement savings, my kids' future -- we have to start all over again." The thieves got away with about $2 million in cash and jewelry, according to Youssef. What hurts most, Youssef says, is losing customers' family treasures -- that the shop was working on at the time of the break-in -- that cannot be replaced. "I can't give back their grandma's diamonds or grandpa's watch," he said. "These were pieces that meant everything to our customers, who I consider friends." Youseff said he doesn't think it was a simple smash-and-grab robbery. "These were not regular criminals," he said. "This was a planned, well-organized attack that required special skills and careful planning." The Simi Valley Police Department said it is investigating the break-in. Meanwhile, the local business community has rallied around the victims, with a GoFundMe page established to help the jewelry store owners recover from their losses.
