Bert Fields, the relentlessly loyal powerhouse entertainment lawyer who repped clients including Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Tom Cruise, George Lucas, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and many others in myriad headline-making cases in Hollywood, has died. He was 93.
His rep told Deadline that Fields died Sunday at his home in Malibu with his longtime wife Barbara Guggenheim by his side.
A partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger Llp, Fields tried many of the landmark cases in the entertainment and communications industries during the past several decades. He represented most major Hollywood studios and talent agencies during his singular career and such other bold-faced names as Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, James Cameron, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Mike Nichols, Jerry Bruckheimer, Joel Silver, Madonna and writers Mario Puzo, James Clavell, Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler.
Bert Fields Q&a: Disney Ban, George Lucas, James Cameron, Harvey Weinstein, Napoleon & The Next Big Thing
Harvey Weinstein,...
His rep told Deadline that Fields died Sunday at his home in Malibu with his longtime wife Barbara Guggenheim by his side.
A partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger Llp, Fields tried many of the landmark cases in the entertainment and communications industries during the past several decades. He represented most major Hollywood studios and talent agencies during his singular career and such other bold-faced names as Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, James Cameron, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Mike Nichols, Jerry Bruckheimer, Joel Silver, Madonna and writers Mario Puzo, James Clavell, Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler.
Bert Fields Q&a: Disney Ban, George Lucas, James Cameron, Harvey Weinstein, Napoleon & The Next Big Thing
Harvey Weinstein,...
- 8/8/2022
- by Erik Pedersen and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
"Bigger and here to stay, Doc NYC returns for its second year to spread the gospel of nonfiction, showcasing 52 features in what's becoming the city's mainstream fall complement to Moma's more international and experimental Documentary Fortnight," writes Nicolas Rapold in the Voice. "Boldface names Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, and Jonathan Demme come bearing new work; anticipated favorites such as The Island President and an Eames doc will be rolled out; a memorial tribute to the late Richard Leacock burnishes another vérité legend; and a host of often issue-oriented other films await presumably sympathetic perusal."
The festival opens this evening with Into the Abyss, "Herzog's best documentary in many years," at least for Amy Taubin, writing for Artforum. "Herzog's subject is state-mandated execution, which he addresses via a case of triple homicide that took place in Conroe, Texas…. The movie is all the more haunting for being so straightforward in its narrative organization,...
The festival opens this evening with Into the Abyss, "Herzog's best documentary in many years," at least for Amy Taubin, writing for Artforum. "Herzog's subject is state-mandated execution, which he addresses via a case of triple homicide that took place in Conroe, Texas…. The movie is all the more haunting for being so straightforward in its narrative organization,...
- 11/4/2011
- MUBI
A man who works with his hands is a laborer;
a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman;
but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.
Louis Nizer
In his indispensable film study text, Understanding Movies, Louis Gianetti held forth on what separated craftsmanlike directors from those who rise above the norm:
“…what differentiates a great director from one who is merely competent is not so much a matter of what happens, but how things happen…”
In other words, Gianetti continued, the difference was in how effectively the director used form – visual style, composition, editing, mise en scene, and the rest of the directorial toolbox – to “…embody (a film’s) content.”
But with the rise of big budget blockbusters in the 70s and 80s, there came the ascendancy of a breed of director for whom content mattered less than form.
a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman;
but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.
Louis Nizer
In his indispensable film study text, Understanding Movies, Louis Gianetti held forth on what separated craftsmanlike directors from those who rise above the norm:
“…what differentiates a great director from one who is merely competent is not so much a matter of what happens, but how things happen…”
In other words, Gianetti continued, the difference was in how effectively the director used form – visual style, composition, editing, mise en scene, and the rest of the directorial toolbox – to “…embody (a film’s) content.”
But with the rise of big budget blockbusters in the 70s and 80s, there came the ascendancy of a breed of director for whom content mattered less than form.
- 5/16/2011
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
WASHINGTON -- Jack Valenti, the eloquent, high-level power broker who reigned as head of the MPAA for almost four decades and was responsible for the institution of the movie ratings system, has died. He was 85.
Valenti died Thursday evening at his home in Washington surrounded by family and friends. He had a stroke in late March, and had checked out of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday after about month there.
A diminutive Texan who used big words and wielded even bigger clout in the corridors of Hollywood and Washington, Valenti became one of the most powerful and respected men in Washington even as he defined a trade -- lobbyist -- that often has lacked respect. He joined the MPAA in 1966 and retired in 2004.
Upon learning of his death, the outpouring of respect for Valenti was tremendous.
Said Warner Bros. chairman & CEO Barry Meyer, a friend who served as the family spokesman when Valenti had his stroke: "Today, my heart is truly heavy. I have lost a dear friend and mentor -- someone who not only made a mark in history, but also had a profound impact on my life."
Meyer described Valenti as "a true leader and gentleman whose wit, fire and passion for our business inspired everyone regardless of politics or opinion, background or belief."
A private mass celebrating Valenti will be held in Washington, with the family to announce details in the coming days.
Valenti was a special assistant and confidant to President Lyndon Johnson and living in the White House when he lured to Hollywood in 1966 by movie moguls Lew Wasserman and Arthur Krim. He was immediately embroiled in battles over the racy content in what was then a new way of making more realistic movies.
In an interview with the The Hollywood Reporter in 1998 to mark the 30th anniversary of the MPAA ratings system, Valenti recalled finding himself arguing with three of the most powerful men in Hollywood about Mike Nichols' 1966 movie, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
They weren't arguing the merits of the dramatic portrayal of the destructive, sadomasochistic relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. They were arguing about "humps" and "screws."
Warner Bros. chairman Jack Warner, his right-hand man Ben Kalmenson, attorney Louis Nizer and the newly appointed MPAA chief were locked in battle over the "hump the hostess" line that Burton recites in the Edward Albee classic. Another point of contention: the word "screw."
Those bits of dialogue, violations of the Hays Production Code that had been in place since the 1930s, prevented the MPAA from affixing its seal of approval on the film, meaning the film could not be released.
Valenti died Thursday evening at his home in Washington surrounded by family and friends. He had a stroke in late March, and had checked out of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday after about month there.
A diminutive Texan who used big words and wielded even bigger clout in the corridors of Hollywood and Washington, Valenti became one of the most powerful and respected men in Washington even as he defined a trade -- lobbyist -- that often has lacked respect. He joined the MPAA in 1966 and retired in 2004.
Upon learning of his death, the outpouring of respect for Valenti was tremendous.
Said Warner Bros. chairman & CEO Barry Meyer, a friend who served as the family spokesman when Valenti had his stroke: "Today, my heart is truly heavy. I have lost a dear friend and mentor -- someone who not only made a mark in history, but also had a profound impact on my life."
Meyer described Valenti as "a true leader and gentleman whose wit, fire and passion for our business inspired everyone regardless of politics or opinion, background or belief."
A private mass celebrating Valenti will be held in Washington, with the family to announce details in the coming days.
Valenti was a special assistant and confidant to President Lyndon Johnson and living in the White House when he lured to Hollywood in 1966 by movie moguls Lew Wasserman and Arthur Krim. He was immediately embroiled in battles over the racy content in what was then a new way of making more realistic movies.
In an interview with the The Hollywood Reporter in 1998 to mark the 30th anniversary of the MPAA ratings system, Valenti recalled finding himself arguing with three of the most powerful men in Hollywood about Mike Nichols' 1966 movie, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
They weren't arguing the merits of the dramatic portrayal of the destructive, sadomasochistic relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. They were arguing about "humps" and "screws."
Warner Bros. chairman Jack Warner, his right-hand man Ben Kalmenson, attorney Louis Nizer and the newly appointed MPAA chief were locked in battle over the "hump the hostess" line that Burton recites in the Edward Albee classic. Another point of contention: the word "screw."
Those bits of dialogue, violations of the Hays Production Code that had been in place since the 1930s, prevented the MPAA from affixing its seal of approval on the film, meaning the film could not be released.
- 4/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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