Todd Phillips's comedy-drama, based on a true story of gun-runners in. Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, two small-time arms dealers who. In the movie, Hill and Teller will be starring as two 20-something stoner arms dealers -named David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli - who were able to secure a $300 million deal with the Pentagon to.

Some stories are best suited for prose. War of colony for pc. Others seem to demand the Hollywood treatment. When director Todd Phillips read Guy Lawson’s 2011 Rolling Stone article “,” about a pair of young Miami dudes who got in way over their heads as, well, arms dealers, he knew it was meant to be a movie.

Even Lawson appears to have considered the story’s big-screen potential, intermittently describing his characters as though they were “the stars of a Hollywood blockbuster.”Five years later, that blockbuster is (Aug. 19) and its stars are and, who play Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, respectively, childhood friends who exploited a government procurement opportunity to land a $300 million contract to supply the Afghan army in 2007. It was the kind of business that would normally go to a heavy hitter like Raytheon. Diveroli and Packouz, meanwhile, were half-baked and flying by the seats of their pants.Phillips is best known as the director comedies like The Hangover and Old School—, if you will (though Phillips won’t—he’s not a fan of the term) about grown men getting tangled in untenable circumstances and then attempting to riddle their way out, often ungracefully. What drew him to this story, though, wasn’t the male bonding part, but the untenable circumstances part.

“I like situations in which characters, whether they’re male or female, make bad decisions and get themselves in over their heads,” he says. “I’m just sort of attracted to chaos.”. And Diveroli and Packouz’s story is nothing if not chaotic. The real-life friends met, wholesomely enough, at their orthodox synagogue in Miami. They struck up a friendship that was interrupted when Diveroli was kicked out of high school in the ninth grade and went to work in Los Angeles in the family business—arms dealing.

When he returned to Miami years later, he reconnected with Packouz, who was hitting a ceiling on his entrepreneurial efforts selling bedsheets to nursing homes while working as a massage therapist. When Diveroli offered Packouz the chance join his growing venture and make millions, Packouz eagerly accepted. They embraced the derogatory term applied to hustlers like them: war dogs.As AEY Inc., they took advantage of a government requirement that a certain percentage of contracts be awarded to small businesses, working their way up from helmets to AK-47s. What ensued was a web of shady contracting, cocaine-fueled crises and international diplomacy best left for the movie (or, if you want the whole story, Lawson’s 2015 book ).

Though much of what they did was legal, some wasn’t (forging company information in order to make bids more attractive, for example, or procuring illegal ammunition), and the whole affair would ultimately come crashing down. Phillips and co-writers Stephen Chin and Jason Smilovic changed many of the details: Audis were swapped for Porsches, the nationality of the shady arms dealer played by producer Bradley Cooper was switched from Swiss to American. Phillips subscribes to the adage “never let the facts get in the way of the truth,” and he appreciated the freedom afforded by his subjects’ relative anonymity. As he explained, “We’re not making Lincoln—we’re making a movie about two stoners from Miami.”In casting Hill and Teller, Phillips sought a balance between what Teller calls “that guy who can come into any room and take over” and the one who is very much “not that guy, but respects that guy.” As Efraim, Hill is as crude as they come.

He’s a chameleon, assuming false identities to ingratiate himself with whoever’s on the other end of the phone. In one scene he’s a devout Christian, and in the next he’s waxing philosophical on last week’s Torah portion. His expressions of joy, punctuated with a high-pitched cackle, arrive whenever money is on the table, and his opposition to the war is trumped by the opportunities it presents to line his pockets. Still, he’s magnetic in his crassness. “If you meet him in real life, he’s a great guy but he’s not necessarily electric,” says Phillips.

“But when he’s onscreen in movies, he vibrates. That was why I wanted him so badly. I wanted this guy to be one of those guys that you fall in love with in the beginning, and by the end you’re supposed to hate him, but you kind of walk out and go, ‘He’s kind of cool, still.’”With Hill playing an untouchable spectacle, it falls on Teller to be a way in for the audience, a challenge he welcomed coming off of playing the flamboyant boxer Vinny Pazienza for the forthcoming drama Bleed For This.

“I enjoyed playing the guy with the redeeming qualities,” he says. “It’s nice to actually play a guy that you like.”Teller spent time with the real-life Packouz on set—pay close attention and you’ll catch his cameo playing Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” at a nursing home—but by that point he had largely completed his preparations for the character. (Diveroli, who was released from prison last year, did not participate in the film). “Anytime you can meet the person you’re playing it’s always interesting,” says Teller, though he’s wary of people’s tendency to edit their own stories to their benefit.

“It’s not a documentary, so I didn’t feel the need to imitate him.”. Though Phillips was drawn to the story’s human tale, it’s inextricably entwined with its political context, and he hopes viewers don’t confuse the story’s victims for its villains—or feel the need to draw such simple conclusions at all.

“I think if you watch this movie through the correct lens, you don’t see it as these guys are horrible,” he explains. “You see it as an indictment on the government—the lack of checks and balances that exist at the Pentagon.

The government was fully aware that you couldn’t source a hundred million rounds of ammo after two Iraq wars—there’s literally a drought of ammo—but the government didn’t give a s—t where it came from. It was for the Afghans. It wasn’t for our soldiers.”Or, as Teller puts it, “They don’t make the statutes—they just figure out what they can do to make some money.” They don’t call them war dogs for nothing.

U.S.OccupationAuthor and former arms dealerCriminal statusReleased August 2014Conspiracy, felon in possession of a firearmCriminal penalty4 years in federal prisonEfraim Diveroli (born December 20, 1985) is an American former and author. His company, AEY Inc., was a major weapons contractor for the. Government suspended AEY for violating its contract after AEY provided 42-year-old substandard and unserviceable Chinese ammunition and attempted to re-brand and re-package it, thus violating the. As a result of the publicity surrounding the contract and the age of the arms dealers – Diveroli was 21 and partner was 25 when AEY landed the ammunition deal – the United States Army began a review of its contracting procedures.Diveroli was sentenced to four years in. He is a central subject of the dramedy film, released in 2016, as well as a memoir written in conjunction with convicted fraudster and published in 2016.

Contents.Early life Diveroli was born on December 20, 1985, in, the son of Ateret and Michael Diveroli. The family was, strictly observing all traditional Jewish laws.

His grandfather, Yoav Botach, is one of the wealthiest property owners in, and his uncle is celebrity rabbi. Formation of AEY Diveroli returned home in March 2001 at the age of fifteen. After an argument with his uncle, he told his father he wanted to open a business specializing in arms, ammunition trading, and defense contracts with the U.S. He convinced his father to sell him a, AEY, Inc., named after the first initials of him and his siblings, which his father had incorporated as a small printing business, but had not done anything with in years. Diveroli showed a penchant for arms dealing and quickly made a name for himself within the industry. His young age and apparent talent led local media outlets to label him as an 'arms wunderkind'. Diveroli struggled with drug addiction and was also labeled as a 'stoner arms dealer' by the media.During the, the world was locked in an arms race.

Millions of weapons were stashed throughout Eastern Europe, ready for a war with the west. When the Cold War ended, and the immediate threat of violence subsided, arms dealers started moving these vast amounts of weapons. The sales that followed formed the 'gray market' where non-state actors (such as militia or terrorist groups) legitimate government sanctioned buyers could procure arms through illegal foreign government sales. 'The Pentagon needed access to this new aftermarket in order to arm the militias it was creating in Iraq and Afghanistan. The trouble was, it couldn't go into such a murky underworld on its own. It needed proxies to do its dirty work — companies like AEY.'

Contracts Diveroli started working during this period of heavy arms trading as a teenager in a one-room apartment in Miami. Equipped with nothing more than a laptop, he sought to enter the industry from the seat of his couch. He began surfing solicitations on fbo.gov, or FedBizOpps, which is a government website where contracts are posted. He began by bidding on small contracts with the financial help of Ralph Merrill, with whom he did business during his time working for his uncle. By the age of eighteen, Diveroli had become a self-made millionaire by continuing to beat out big corporations like,. In the words of Rolling Stone, Diveroli had 'an appetite for risk and all-devouring ambition.' After steadily increasing the size of his contracts and developing a track record of success, Diveroli’s company AEY, Inc.

Was awarded a $298 million contract by the Pentagon to provide arms and munitions to the allied forces in Afghanistan. In order to fulfill the US government contracts, Diveroli soon found himself dealing with dubious weapons traders, crooked diplomats, and soldiers of fortune; negotiating deals with foreign defense ministers, holding meetings at embassies, and taking calls from high-ranking Army officials.On March 27, 2008, the U.S.

Government suspended AEY Inc. For infringing upon the terms of its contract; in violation of a pre-existing arms embargo, the company was accused of supplying manufactured in to the. Documents showed that the company totaled more than $200 million in contracts to supply ammunition, rifles, and other weapons in 2007.

As a result of publicity surrounding the contract, the United States Army began a review of its contracting procedures.The ruled the ammunition 'unserviceable'. AEY had also failed to perform on numerous previous contracts, including sending potentially unsafe helmets and failure to deliver 10,000 pistols to Iraq.Diveroli's former partner, and Ralph Merrill, the group's former chief financier, later filed separate lawsuits against Diveroli seeking payment of millions of dollars they say they were owed in connection to the weapons contract with the U.S. Trial and conviction A company Diveroli owns, Ammoworks, continued selling arms while he awaited trial for conspiracy. In late August 2008, he pleaded guilty on one count of, and was sentenced to four years in prison on January 4, 2011.

He was further sentenced for possessing a weapon while out on bond and had his overall sentence reduced for assisting in the investigation of the offense.Diveroli's former partner was sentenced to seven months' house arrest. War Dogs. Main article:The story of Diveroli's arms deals is the subject of the comedy/drama film War Dogs, starring as Diveroli and as his partner, David Packouz., which was based on the reporting done by Canadian journalist for. In 2016, Diveroli filed a lawsuit against, director, producer, and others, seeking to block release of the film.

Diveroli's suit against Warner Bros. Claimed that the basis for the film was taken from his self-published Once A Gun Runner, which convicted real estate fraudster claims to have written while in prison with Diveroli. References. Efraim Diveroli.

Archived from on May 15, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016. Miami Herald.

Archived from on April 15, 2016. ^. Once A Gun Runner. Archived from on May 15, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016. Chivers, C.J.

(March 27, 2008). The New York Times.

Retrieved August 13, 2016. ^ Chivers, C.J. (April 27, 2008). The New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2016. Bullock, Penn (September 25, 2008).

Retrieved February 16, 2016. ^ Lawson, Guy (March 16, 2011). Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 14, 2015. ^. April 30, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2017.

Elizabeth Newell Jochum and Robert Brodsky (April 3, 2008). Retrieved April 20, 2016. Bullock, Penn (August 5, 2010). Retrieved April 13, 2017. Miami Herald (September 2, 2010). Cayman Compass Via Miami Herald. Retrieved April 20, 2016.

Retrieved May 4, 2016. Peterson, Barry. The Black and Gray Market Arms Trade.

P. 4. Chivers, C.J. (April 27, 2008).

The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2008. Rep. (PDF) (Report). Archived from (PDF) on September 8, 2016. We know that ammunition provided by AEY was 'unserviceable.'

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We know that much of the ammunition was illegal Chinese-made ammunition. Schmitt, Eric (June 25, 2008). The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2016. Clark, Lesley (June 25, 2008). The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 11, 2016.

Eisenberg, David (June 27, 2008). Retrieved September 11, 2016. ^ Elfrink, Tim (August 11, 2016).

Miami New Times. Retrieved August 29, 2016. Bullock, Penn (February 3, 2009). The Miami New Times. Retrieved February 4, 2009. September 7, 2009.

Retrieved May 14, 2015. January 4, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2015. (PDF). Retrieved May 14, 2015. ^ Gardner, Eriq (June 22, 2016).

Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 29, 2016., retrieved December 9, 2019Wikinews has related news:Further reading. McClatchy DC. August 31, 2009. Korten, Tristam.

Archived from on February 23, 2012.External links.