Billy Corben puts sequel to "The U" on hold UPDATED

UPDATED: YouTube audio of Corben's appearance on Rosenberg's show below.

"The U's" Billy Corben
Miami filmmaker Billy Corben, producer and director of the highly acclaimed film, "The U," told WQAM's Sid Rosenberg late this afternoon that he is putting a planned sequel to the film on the back burner.



Corben learned earlier this week that the University of Miami is quietly pressuring the distributor of the DVD version of "The U" into removing the "distinctive U logo from the [DVD] box cover."

"There are some really bad people over there," Corben told Rosenberg in an obvious reference to University of Miami higher-ups.

Corben told me by phone after the show that work on the planned sequel had "become more trouble than it's worth."

"The U" premiered late last year.

Corben completed the film despite major interference and roadblocks thrown up by UM officials even before he started filming.

Last February Corben told me of the school's attempts to dissuade him from making "The U."

In 2007, according to Corben, University of Miami Sports Information director Mark Pray told the filmmaker that his project was something the University of Miami did not wish to participate in. Pray went so far as to tell Corben that "you should re-think your project."

Pray was fired from UM earlier this year.

Corben's latest film, "Square Grouper," is set to premiere early next year.