Joseph Michaels was a screenwriter in Los Angeles in the early 2000s.
He graduated from the University of Southern California after producing an award-winning short film that garnered him a great deal of industry attention.
After Michaels signed a seven-figure deal to rewrite a police drama, Ray Morales sent him a gift basket including a hundred-dollar bottle of whisky. Michaels later visited Morales's Porsche dealership, and took a test-drive with Cassie Black.