An Interview with Arnon Milchan
der Israeli mit der krummen Brille ist laut forbes 2 Milliarden schwer…
Als ich am Wochenende meinen Horizont in Sachen Zigarrenkunde erweitern wollte 
bin ich über einen hoch interessanten Artikel gestossen. Dieses inteview mit dem Hollywood-Mogul im “Cigar Aficionado” war soo spannend dass ich es am gleichen Wochenende gleich 2 mal lesen musste…
Arnons Trojaner war “Once Upon a Time in America” Anfang der 80′er (womit er bei uns schon gewonnen hat) aber auch filme wie Pretty Woman, L.A. Confidential, JFK, Man on Fire, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the Free Willy gehen auf seine Kappe…
Seine Ehrlichkeit und Insiderperspektive beleuchten das Business auf eine hochgradig atemberaubende Art. Wir geben euch das Intro den Rest gibt es via Cigar Aficionado 
HAVE FUN!!!!
Winston Churchill once uttered these words: “[It] is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” The question is, which part of that phrase applies to Arnon Milchan. For anyone outside of Hollywood, the key word would be mystery; very few people have ever heard of him. For Hollywood insiders, the key word would be enigma; they have never quite understood how he has managed to be so successful in a business filled with stories of big losses.
But in truth, if you love movies, the only answer to the riddle is that Arnon Milchan loves to tell stories, and he has turned his storytelling passion into a love for movies. There’s also a pretty good chance that he has produced one of your favorite films in the last 25 years.
Milchan’s Once Upon a Time in America is Marvin R. Shanken’s all-time favorite movie. That was one of the reasons the Cigar Aficionado editor and publisher wanted to interview Milchan as part of his ongoing series with men who normally don’t give interviews. In the past, Shanken has interviewed for this magazine Fidel Castro, Michael Jordan, Francis Ford Coppola, Gen. Tommy Franks and Ronald O. Perelman.
Since the late 1970s, Milchan has produced more than 120 films. Through Regency Films, which today has a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, owned by Rupert Murdoch, he produces 10 to 12 films a year that reach theaters. Besides Once Upon a Time in America, his credits include Pretty Woman, L.A. Confidential, JFK, Man on Fire, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the Free Willy series. The list goes on and on. In all, his movies have earned several billion dollars. And he’s still going strong. This spring, he released What Happens in Vegas, with Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz, and by the end of its first month in release, it had earned more that $76 million.
But Milchan’s life is about a lot more than movies. A descendant of an Israeli family that has lived in the region for more than 500 years, Milchan owns businesses that have helped build Israel’s agricultural industry into a world power and helped the desert to bloom. He bought a stake in the Puma athletic shoe company, quintupling his initial investment before selling his stake in 2002. He controls more than 30 companies in 17 countries, with interests ranging from aerospace and automobiles to stereos. He has partnered with some of the most powerful business leaders in the world, including Murdoch, Kerry Packer, Johann Rupert and Nelson Peltz, just to name a few.
But in the end, Milchan keeps coming back to the movies, his true love. Shanken gets Milchan to discuss some of his biggest successes and disappointments in the film industry, and the inside story on how he managed to bring together as partners two of Australia’s most powerful businessmen, Packer and Murdoch, at a time when they were avowed rivals.
MARVIN R. SHANKEN: Arnon, I’m curious. You are considered a recluse in Hollywood and in the business world. What brings you to this table to allow me to interview you?
ARNON MILCHAN: Part of the reason as far as interviews go is it’s very rare that you can actually get through the barrier of trusting or not trusting someone, number one. Number two is to find somebody who stimulates you. In any case, sooner or later, somebody writes about you. I’d rather be in the situation where I have somebody who I know. Not because you’re going to protect me. You can go straight in my face and make chopped liver out of me if you feel like it. But I know at least I will fight back, and we’ll have fun, but more than anything, I think the stimulation I get from intelligent questions is major for me. We have a common friend who always says QTL, Quality of Time Left. So even in an interview, if I do something, I want to do it well, and I want to do it with somebody who is not out to get me. But the other thing that I’m really emphasizing here, is that sooner or later, every few years, you have to expose yourself. I’d rather expose myself here.
MRS: In 2000, “60 Minutes” did a segment on you. In his opening remarks, Steve Kroft said, “You probably haven’t heard of Arnon Milchan, but he’s one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, and has bankrolled a string of successful films like Pretty Woman [1990] and L.A. Confidential [1997]. He also happens to be a trained scientist, a former soccer star and a high-stakes gambler who likes fast cars and a good time.” Your comments?
MILCHAN: Everything is true except the fast cars.
MRS: I’m thinking of becoming an independent film producer.
MILCHAN: Yes?
MRS: What advice can you give me?
MILCHAN: First of all, ask yourself, Why do you want to do it? And if the answer is business, I would say, please don’t. It’s a horrible business. And it’s also a business where the amount of rejections are enormous. In any event, the word “independent” doesn’t exist. The more you call yourself independent, the more you are dependent. Independents are the people who can write a check. The studios, or guys like myself, who actually have the ability to write a billion dollars a year and spend a few hundred million dollars in advertising. The guy who is a so-called independent has to go and raise money. Therefore, he depends on somebody from Korea and Switzerland and France, or the studio has to give him money and then to pay for the advertising. When people give somebody money, they also give conditions. They want less violence, or more sex. All of a sudden they change your movie. The other thing, unfortunately, is that in today’s world, the marketing has become such an important part of the business. The advertising is through the roof, and it’s still not enough. We’re going to open at 3,000 theaters. We have to be aware of the fact that there are five other movies around us, who also want two or three thousand theaters and as many screens as we do. And the following weekend, there are four or five other movies coming out, and each one spends 40 or 50 million dollars to push you off the screens and take your place in the theaters. So the independent business is practically gone today. You need to be affiliated with the bigger picture, meaning the marketing side of the equation. So unfortunately, there is no such thing anymore as an independent.
MRS: All right, now I can tell you, I have no interest in being a movie producer. It’s too tough a business from what you’re telling me.
MILCHAN: It’s a horrible business. In the good old days, where a guy like Arnon could go and spend three years on one movie called Once Upon a Time in America [1984], that’s a luxury that I could afford at the time, because I had some other businesses and money, and I could gamble. If you love movies, find somebody who can adopt you and help you to focus. It is no different than any other artist, or any painter, any musician, who wants a gallery, wants a name.
MRS: What exactly does a movie producer do? What is your role? A lot of the people who are going to read this interview are not Hollywood people and don’t really know what you do.
ENTIRE INTERVIEW VIA CAGAR AFICIONADO
