| Editor | Peter Herbst |
|---|---|
| Categories | film entertainment |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | 1987 |
| Final issue | April 2007 |
| Company | Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. |
| Country | United States |
| Website | premiere.com |
Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première (Première site), was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.
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The magazine originally had offices in Los Angeles and New York and was published by Rupert Murdoch. The founding editor was Susan Lyne and many notable people worked under her, including Peter Biskind who spent a decade at the magazine as executive editor and went on to write the bestselling book, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. He said that early on the magazine "gave us a lot of freedom to do hard-hitting, in-depth reporting."[1] Chris Connelly is another former editor who went on to work as a correspondent for ESPN and contributing correspondent for ABC's 20/20 and a commentator backstage at the Academy Awards.
News Corporation sold the magazine to K-III (later Primedia) in 1991, and Hachette reacquired the magazine in 1995.
After Lyne left the magazine, Connelly became editor-in-chief in early 1996 with Nancy Griffin as deputy editor. Both editors resigned suddenly in May of the same year after publisher Hachette Filipacchi's then president and chief executive, David Pecker told Connelly to not publish a column about Planet Hollywood because of its ties to billionaire Revlon owner Ronald Perelman, who was also half owner of Premiere.[1]
Premiere was released ten times a year, with issues dated February, March, April, May, June, July/August, September, October, November and December/January. It sold all over the US, Canada, Australia, Britain and France, among others.
Each issue of Premiere included regular features, such as:
Premiere's editor, Peter Herbst, was appointed senior vice president and group editorial director for Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2002. In addition to serving as editor-in-chief of Premiere, Herbst is also heads the editorial direction for magazines such as Car and Driver, Road & Track, Cycle World, Road & Track Road Gear, Road & Track Speed and Sound & Vision. From 1995 to 2000, Herbst was editor-in-chief for Family Life magazine. Prior to his position at Family Life, Herbst worked for People, Marie Claire, New York magazine, the New York Daily News, and Rolling Stone.
On March 5, 2007, publishers Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. announced that it was shutting down the U.S. print edition of Premiere, and that the magazine will survive as an online-only publication. The print editions in other countries—the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Portugal and Spain—were unaffected by this announcement and will continue.[2] The Portuguese edition was canceled in October 2007. Czech Republic edition last issue is June 2009.
The last published issue was the April 2007 (featuring Will Ferrell promoting Blades of Glory on the cover). The final issue gave readers no warning that it would be the last. In late April subscribers were mailed postcards advising them of the magazine's demise and telling them the balance of their subscriptions would be fulfilled with issues of the tabloid-like Us Weekly. Negative response to the offer immediately was posted to the magazine website's forum pages by unhappy subscribers, and it was announced a cash refund would be available for those who preferred one.