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Vanity Fair New Establishment Favors Editor Cronies

by Anne Thompson | September 3, 2009 | 1 Comment

Thompson on Hollywood
The one year that I covered the Hollywood side of the Vanity Fair New Establishment List, I found that the final list reflected less accurate reporting than who was a possible cover subject or socialized with editor Graydon Carter. This year the nasty economy allowed VF to trim some familiar names while the Hall of Fame protects some Carter cronies.

This year Silicon Valley comes on stronger than ever.

As for Hollywood, I'm not sure why Steven Spielberg goes up. DreamWorks did raise some money, but less than was expected, and it took longer. But for the moment, Spielberg does have it. And he got much of it from Anil Ambani, his Reliance backer, who goes down on the list from 67 to 97. Go figure. NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker is up? Because of Hulu? CAA's Bryan Lourd is back, well ahead of Ari Emanuel, who had to be on the list. But the entry makes no mention of how he pushed out Jim Wiatt and came out on top in the William Morris/Endeavor merger. The beleaguered Weinsteins are still on the list, down four points to 91. Imagine's Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are down just two after success d'estime Frost/Nixon and Angels and Demons, which made up its domestic losses abroad.

Pixar is up dramatically: right call. Star Trek's J.J. Abrams enters at 27. Judd Apatow is up after his movie Funny People disappointed. Movie star Meryl Steep enters the list behind Pitt, Jolie, Clooney and Hanks, who are lauded more for their political clout than their movie stardom. DeNiro is on because of Tribeca, not What Just Happened? or Righteous Kill.

New entries include Tyler Perry, Ryan Kavanaugh, Michael Bay, TMZ's Harvey Levin, Todd Phillips (The Hangover) and NBC Universal's Lauren Zalaznick, one of the few women on the list.


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More: Directors, Headliners, Independents, Moguls, Studios, Players, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Weinsteins

1 Comment

  • Annie | September 3, 2009Reply

    And this is a surprise, why?

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