Joseph R. "Joe" Francis (born April 1, 1973) is the founder of Mantra Films, Inc., which produces the Girls Gone Wild and Guys Gone Wild DVD series. Francis, who grew up in Laguna Beach, California, graduated from the University of Southern California in 1995 with a degree in Business Administration. He also completed USC’s Entrepreneur Program.

After graduating from USC, Francis worked in various capacities in television production, eventually landing a job as production assistant for TV series Real TV, which aired footage of unusual events not routinely covered by mainstream network news at the time. While working at Real TV, Francis learned of a compilation video which was so popular with the production staff containing footage that was considered too extreme for network TV viewers, including those of “real TV”. Francis believed that there were commercial possibilities with a video of that kind and edited the video tape and named it Banned from Television. He used a business direct-marketing plan he created in college and sold individual video cassettes of the title.

Beginning of a Brand

“Banned From Television” was considered a commercial success and it spawned other sequels. One of the videos which Francis had licensed, contained footage of female college students flashing their breasts during Mardi Gras and Spring Break. Seeing the marketing appeal, he titled that footage “Girls Gone Wild (GGW)”. He eventually stopped licensing the materials and began producing it himself.

In 1997, at the age of 24, Francis founded Mantra Films, Inc.,. Building on the discovered premise that he could film college-age women "going wild," including baring their breasts for the cameras at spring breaks and other locales, Mantra became a company with over 400 employees and has recorded sales in excess of $30 million per year. Mantra also spun off the Guys Gone Wild DVD series

In the world of pop culture, Francis' Girls Gone Wild is regularly referenced in today’s society and pop culture atmosphere and was recently cited as an example of "sexualization," number 23 on USA Today's list of the "25 Trends that Changed America".

Controversies

As a public figure, Francis has attracted his share of controversies, including allegations of rape, and conspiracy to use minors in sexual performances. In a well-publicized case, Francis was kidnapped from his Bel Air home by an assailant who also tried to blackmail Francis. The assailant received a 10-year sentence which he is serving.

He is often criticized by social commentators and third wave feminists for perpetuating what some consider "the new double standard" which equates the objectification of women with sexual liberation.

Mantra films has come under legal attack on a number of occasions. Recurring allegations include that women engaged in sexual activity were used without the consent of the women, that Mantra films engaged in sexual exploitation of minors and that incomplete records were kept of participants in GGW videos. Today the videos, which sell for as little as $9.99 apiece, contribute to a total sales figure of almost $100 million per year for Mantra Films, Inc.

LA Times allegations of violence against women

In the August 6, 2006 issue of West, the Sunday magazine of the Los Angeles Times, an article by Claire Hoffman followed Francis across the country. Her article begins by describing an incident in which Francis pinned her to the hood of a car, apparently demonstrating his 2003 arrest in Florida. Hoffman reports that "the pressure he applied was so intense that hours later, my arms were covered in red hand marks," and says that she was afraid he would break her arm. When she fought him off, Francis grabbed her notebook and accused her of not caring about the First Amendment. Subsequently, he called her editor and accused her of having "ax to grind because I am jealous and angry" due to what Francis said was her crush on him.

Hoffman also notes that she is not the "only woman who's made Francis mad," and lists a number of other court actions raised against Francis by women, ranging from an accusation of harassment to accusations of rape. None of these accusations, however, led to charges being pressed.

Legal problems

Francis has been a party to several lawsuits. Some stem from activities during the filming of videos and others from the company's practices.

Civil

In 2002, Becky Lynn Gritzke discovered that she had been covertly filmed flashing her breasts at a Mardi Gras festival and that the image had been used without her permission on billboards advertising Girls' Gone Wild videos and even on the cover of a video. She sued Mantra Films and settled for an undisclosed sum under an agreement according to which GGW agreed to cease distributing all material bearing Gritzke's image.

In June 2007, Francis and Mantra Films became the subject of another lawsuit claiming that images had been used without the subject's permission. The suit was subsequently dropped after Francis released footage showing the subjects agreeing to be filmed.

2003 arrest

In an incident at Panama City Beach, Florida, during spring break 2003, Francis was arrested and then released on $165,000 bond. He was initially charged with 71 separate counts, including racketeering, drug trafficking, and child pornography. Police confiscated his private jet and other property. At a July 27 2006 hearing, the judge threw out 200 hours of videotape and hundreds of other key pieces of evidence in the case. On January 4, 2007, the judge dismissed almost all of the charges stemming from the Panama City case claiming that "the evidence did not support the allegations," and the seized assets were returned. However, the remaining felony counts charge that Francis and the company used and conspired to use minors in sexual performances, charges which carry a combined maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. Two misdemeanor counts which also remain charge Francis and the company with prostitution. Francis and the company contend that the two participants lied about their ages to get on camera.

Administrative proceedings before the FTC

On December 16, 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission against Mantra Films, Inc., and its sole officer and director Joseph R. Francis, seeking civil penalties for violations of previous Commission determinations concerning unfair and deceptive acts or practices and consumer redress. The Commission’s complaint alleges that since December 2000, Mantra and Francis deceptively marketed Girls Gone Wild videos and DVDs to consumers, automatically shipped these unordered videos and DVDs to consumers, and charged consumers for them without consumers’ consent.

On July 30, 2004, the FTC announced a stipulated court order under which the sellers of Girls Gone Wild DVDs and videos would refund over half a million dollars of shipping fees as consumer redress, pay a half-million dollar civil penalty, and be barred from a wide range of activities detailed in a complaint the U.S. Department of Justice filed on behalf of the FTC in late 2003.

On December 13, 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Mantra Films had been sentenced to pay $1.6 million in criminal fines for failing to create and maintain age and identity records for films it produced, and that the “package agreement” between the government and Mantra Films, MRA Holdings, LLC and Joe Francis required a public acknowledgment of criminal wrongdoing, a pledge of cooperation with the government in future investigations, full compliance with the record keeping laws, and payment of a total of $2.1 million in fines and restitution.

Arrest for contempt

Francis was arrested at the Panama City-Bay County International Airport on April 10, 2007 for allegedly violating a contempt of court citation during negotiations in a civil lawsuit brought by seven women who were underage when they were filmed by his company on Panama City Beach during spring break in 2003.

Lawyers for the women alleged to U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak that Francis became belligerent throughout the settlement talks, shouting profanities and threatening to "bury them." Smoak ordered Francis to settle the case or go to jail; subsequent negotiations were mediated, but broke down, inciting Smoak to issue a contempt of court warrant. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta refused to let him remain free pending an appeal..

Michael D. Young, writer for the Wiley International CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, researched the case of Joe Francis’s jailing in Florida and offered a full chronology of events, and asserted that the reach of the judge's rulings about the mediation raises many questions.

Francis was sentenced to 35 days in jail for failing to surrender.

Charges in Florida

The Associated Press (AP) reports that on Thursday, April 12, 2007, Francis was accused of bribery, possession of a controlled substance, and introducing contraband (cash and drugs) into the Panama City, Florida jail. The AP reports that Francis (in jail for contempt of court) unsuccessfully offered a guard one hundred, and then five hundred dollars, for a bottled water. Jailers allegedly found drugs including Lunesta and lorazepam in the jail cell. Francis reportedly faces up to five years in prison if convicted on these charges. After subsequent investigation, Francis was charged with posession of contraband. A psychiatrist hired by Francis' defense team stated in his report that Francis demonstrates "significant psychiatric issues" and did "express a potential for suicidal activity if his incarceration is prolonged."

Federal criminal tax problems

On April 11, 2007, Francis was indicted by a federal grand jury in Reno, Nevada on two counts of tax evasion under 26 U.S.C. § 7201

Francis is charged with filing with the Internal Revenue Service a false and fraudulent Form 1120S, U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation, for Sands Media, Inc. (a company for which Francis allegedly is the sole shareholder, president and chief executive officer), for the year 2002. The indictment charges that the return overstated deductions, including $3,784,390 for construction of a residence in Punta Mita, Mexico, as a false consulting services expense; a false $500,000 insurance expense; and an additional $10,411,020 in false consulting services expenses. The indictment also charges various violations for the year 2003, including an allegedly false insurance expense deduction of $1,666,666.67 on the 2003 Form 1120S return for Mantra Films, Inc., a company for which he allegedly is the sole shareholder, president and chief executive officer. In a press release, the United States Department of Justice asserts that the false business deductions total over 20 million dollars.

The Los Angeles Times has quoted his attorney, Jan L. Handzlik, as saying: "The government has chosen to make a criminal case out of what we believe to be, at most, a civil tax dispute […] We are also disappointed about the timing of these charges in light of Joe's difficulties in Florida. This is turning into a litigation dog pile." If convicted, Francis could face up to ten years in prison and substantial fines. The trial is set to begin on April 29, 2008.