Born Rich
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Born Rich is a 2003 documentary about the experience of growing up as a child in one of the world's richest families. It was created by Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune.
It was purchased by HBO. The film was described as "a documentary on children of the insanely rich, directed by one of their own, Johnson & Johnson Inc. heir Jamie Johnson." It consists primarily of Johnson interviewing his friends and peers about the experience of living life free of financial constraints. These interviews are offset by Johnson's exploration of his own experience and family. Jamie's uncle is screenwriter and novelist Dirk Wittenborn, whom Jamie credits with encouraging him to make a documentary about the experience of wealthy children.
The documentary was nominated for two Emmy Awards[1] including 'Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming' for the director, Jamie Johnson. The other nomination was in the category 'Outstanding Nonfiction Special' for the producers: Sheila Nevins (executive producer), Dirk Wittenborn (produced by) and Jamie Johnson (producer).
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[edit] Cast
Born Rich features interviews with:
- Ivanka Trump, daughter of real estate tycoon Donald Trump
- S.I. Newhouse IV, heir to the Condé Nast Publications fortune and grandson of Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr.
- Josiah Hornblower, of the Vanderbilt and Whitney families
- Georgina Bloomberg, daughter of New York mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg
- Stephanie Ercklentz, "finance heiress"
- Cody Franchetti, "textile heir"
- Luke Weil, heir to the Autotote gaming empire
- Christina Floyd, "professional sports heiress", daughter of Ray Floyd
- Carlo von Zeitschel, wealthy European who claims to be a titled descendant of Kaiser Wilhelm II, a German baron and an Italian viscount
- Juliet Hartford, A&P heiress, daughter of Huntington Hartford
- Austin Fuentes
- Peter L. Skolnik
[edit] Quotes
Luke Weil: "Did you ever have someone piss you off? Somebody rubs you the wrong way. And I'm up at boarding school. And this guy's from some shit town in Connecticut, I don't know. I can just say, fuck you, I'm from New York. My family can buy your family, piss off. And this is petty, and this is weak, and this is very underhanded, but it's so easy, you know."
Josiah Hornblower: "My dad brought us up, always telling us we were poor. We never were given too many presents, and I didn't know anything about the Vanderbilts, or the Whitneys. I didn't know anything about it and I remember when I was a little kid, my mom let me spend the day with my uncle. And he took me to Grand Central Station and he said, 'This is yours.' I mean, that's just the worst that he... and he'd just take me all around New York and be like, 'Yes, we own this.' It was the dumbest thing in the world to do to a kid."
Jamie Johnson: "[My father] always told me from a very early age, don't talk about money, deny being wealthy if people ask you. He was seriously against [me making this film] and really discouraged me from doing it. It actually encouraged me and I thought this film needs to be made."
