New York Magazine: Meet the Billionaire Film Mogul and Former Israeli Spy Who Paid for The Revenant

New York Magazine knows a good story when they see one. Arnon Milchan's career and the book Confidential prove to be "worthy of an epic".  

Arnon Milchan Ranked the 2nd Wealthiest Mogul in Hollywood

Arnon Milchan is now ranked the 2nd wealthiest movie-mogul in the Hollywood film industry, coming in just behind George Lucas, and well ahead of Seven Spielberg, who holds the #3 spot. Milchan is estimated to be worth $5.2 billion.

Rank	Name	Estimated Net Worth	Famous Films
1	George Lucas	5,400	Star Wars films
2	Arnon Milchan	5,200	Pretty Woman, 12 Years A Slave
3	Steven Spielberg	3,300	ET, Jaws
4	Austin Hearst	1,900	The Vow
5	Ryan Kavanaugh	1,000	The Social Network, Little Fockers
6	Jeffrey Katzenberg	910	The Lion King, Shrek
7	Thomas Tull	870	The Hangover, 300
8	Jerry Bruckheimer	850	Top Gun, Pirates of The Caribbean
9	Steve Tisch	720	Forrest Gump
10	James Cameron	670	Avatar, Titanic

Arnon Milchan's 'Birdman' Nominated for Nine Academy Awards

For the second year in a row, Arnon Milchan / New Regency films are up for nine Academy Awards. Birdman, staring Michael Keaton, is up for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and more. Milchan's Gone Girl is up for Best Actress. Most analysts agree that Milchan will face stiffer competition this year, compared to last year when Twelve Years a Slave was an obvious favorite.  

Arnon Milchan Produces World's Top Hits 'Gone Girl' & 'Birdman'... Honored at The Israeli Film Festival...

As usual, Arnon Milchan's accomplishments come in waves... and once again he sits at the top of the cinematic world, however temporarily. With two tremendous, high-quality productions; Gone Girl and Birdman, Milchan's New Regency has moved firmly in the direction of Milchan's roots as an artsy risk-taker. Gone Girl has already passed $300,000,000 in world wide box office sales, making it currently the top grossing film in the world.

Mr. Milchan will also receive the 2014 Israel Film Festival Visionary Award in Los Angeles on October 23rd.

Arnon Milchan, the 2014 Honoree of the Los Angeles Police Department

Producer Arnon Milchan was the special Honoree for the Los Angeles Police Foundation's annual gala that was held this year at Fox Studios. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, and Los Angeles Police Foundation Chairman Jim Wiatt were all on hand to present Mr. Milchan with the award for his contributions to the community and support for Los Angeles law enforcement.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck pins Mr. Milchan's lapel with a special LAPD insignia

The Los Angeles Police Foundation is the largest source of private support for the LAPD and funds equipment and technology upgrades, specialized training, community outreach and youth programs that are not provided by the city budget.

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, Arnon Milchan and Los Angeles Police Foundation Chairman Jim Wiatt.
It is photo's like this that drive conspiratorial anti-Semites stark raving mad.

 

Packer-Murdoch-Milchan: A troubled triangle

The Packer and Murdoch families are the Hatfield and McCoy's of Australia's business world, and have been for many years. Arnon Milchan was the first person to bring the two family-businesses together when the billionaires, Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch, both invested in Mr. Milchan's New Regency film production company, which was established in 1991. The book Confidential describes how Mr. Milchan brought the antagonists together, on Pages 135-138... and Mr. Milchan prides himself on playing the peacemaker in that ongoing feud.

Kerry Packer passed away on December 26th of 2005. His son David Packer took over the family business, and eventually sold his 25% in New Regency in 2008. With Arnon Milchan's help, James Packer has recently reentered the Hollywood scene with a $450 million dollar investment in RatPac, a joint venture with Hollywood director Brett Ratner.

There is no word on Mr. Murdoch's attitude towards the growing business relationship between his New Regency partner, Mr. Milchan, and Mr. James Packer. But one strong indication might be a series of events that transpired only minutes after Mr. Packer returned to Australia from a business meeting with Mr. Milchan in Israel.

Upon disembarking from his flight from Israel, Mr. Packer headed to his home in the Bondi Beach neighborhood of Sydney. As he approached his home he was confronted by a longtime friend, Australian TV executive David Gyngell. Words were exchanged between the two, and within moments, a full blown brawl broke out. The two were eventually separated; no serious injuries were inflicted, short of bruised egos and Mr. Packer's black eye.

Boys will be boys.

The far more fascinating angle on this little event involves the role that Mr. Murdoch's media outlets in Australia have gleefully played in its aftermath. Murdoch's News Corporation was quick to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase video and photo's of the physical confrontation, and to plaster the images all over the world... not forgetting of course to mention that Mr. Packer was just returning from a meeting with Mr. Milchan... and Packer's new Hollywood investments. The relevance of the Hollywood/Milchan newspaper side-note in this story is not at all clear... other than to perhaps to send a message.

Videos of the brawl have since gone viral world wide, but not before Mrudoch's News Corporation plastered water marks all over them so that everyone will know that: 'this James Packer brawl is brought to you courtesy of Mr. Mrudoch." ... and oh yeah, he [Packer] just came back from a meeting with Mr. Milchan.

As the world turns.

Stay tuned.

CONFIRMED: Arnon Milchan's 'Noah' Shoots to the Top of Worldwide Box Office Recipts. Update: Tops $300 Million

  

Arnon Milchan and his good friend,
Australian Billionaire James Packer, at the
Opening of Milchan's Noah in NYC.
March 26th 2014.

UPDATE: Noah tops $300 million world wide. Arnon Milchan and Paramount's Noah stormed to the very top of worldwide box office receipts on opening weekend...raining on the cinematic competition... flooding theaters with moviegoers... sailing to success...and every other cheesy Noah metaphor that headline writers could compose. Noah's success will undoubtedly further fatten Mr. Milchan's wallet.

It's been a busy few weeks for Arnon Milchan. After his film 12 Years a Slave won Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards, he hosted a private party for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a cadre of A-list stars and senior Hollywood executives at his Malibu estate. A few weeks later, his production of Noah hit the big screen, shooting to the top of worldwide ticket sales, including in the United States. Hard to imagine what the encore will be.

Arnon Milchan to Host a Gathering With Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Top Hollywood Talant and Executives at His Malibu Estate

Fresh off of his Academy Awards success with Best Picture 12 Years a Slave, Arnon Milchan will be hosting a low profile dinner-gathering of Hollywood's top talent and executives at his Malibu estate this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the guest of honor and the press is not invited. The exclusive, intimate gathering will consist of about 75 of Hollywood's a-list talent and studio executives. Among the invitees are director James Cameron, Barbara Streisand, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Hopkins,  Ben Affleck, Billy Crystal, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Jeremy Renner, James Caan, Kate Hudson, and all of the top studio executives.

The event is informal and will include a no-holds-bar discussion. Guests will be encouraged to asked any questions of the Prime Minister, no matter how controversial. Mr. Netanyahu will encourage those gathered to use Israel as a location for film and television productions, and will announce various financial incentives to attract Hollywood productions to Israel.

As revealed in the book Confidential, Arnon Milchan has over the years emerged as Israel's unofficial ambassador to Hollywood.

Arnon Milchan...New Regency....'12 Years a Slave'....Golden Globe Best Drama...On track for 'Best Film' Academy Award?

“New Regency were the last people in, but I think it’s fair to say they are the reason the movie got made”
 

 

Arnon Milchan was in South Africa recently promoting 12 Years a Slave, which was co-produced and released by his company New Regency, and distributed by Fox under the Fox-New Regency distribution agreement. South Africa is a country he knows well and has special feelings for. 12 Years a Slave won the coveted Golden Globe 'Best Drama' of 2013. Oscar nominations are to be announced on Thursday, January 16th.

Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment co-produced the film with Mr. Milchan. Plan B Entertainment President Dede Gardner explained in Screen Daily the partnership arrangement that could very well lead to Mr. Milchan's first Academy Award:

Heading into production a US distributor had yet to be attached. Summit was a potential candidate but its imminent acquisition by Lionsgate soon ruled out the company.

Paramount, which had an output deal with Plan B since 2005 and whose chairman Brad Grey co-founded Plan B with Pitt, was also a potential distributor but ultimately was not seen as the right fit.

Pitt’s outfit would instead turn to Los Angeles-based financier New Regency, whose chairman Arnon Milchan and CEO Brad Weston separately had long-term relationships with Pitt and his executives.

“We were repositioning ourselves,” says Weston of New Regency, which up to that point had focused on mainstream comedies and action fare. “We had a strategy for the company and Steve fell into that category of a wall-to-wall brilliant film-maker that we wanted to work with.”
For New Regency and all the backers, McQueen’s film represented the ultimate in highbrow but accessible film-making.

In April 2012, a few weeks before filming began, New Regency agreed to co-finance and distribute the picture via Fox Searchlight, per its output deal with Fox. In fact, the company committed less than 48 hours after reading the script.

“New Regency were the last people in, but I think it’s fair to say they are the reason the movie got made,” acknowledges Gardner."

Hypocrisy And Lies About Spies



By Joseph Gelman

The dark corners of the internet are ablaze with rage. A leading Jewish Hollywood producer, Arnon Milchan, has recently come in from the cold as an Israeli nuclear spy. Could there possibly be a greater stereotype for the Israel-hater to harp upon?

The most prolific accusation to be heard from the usual suspects is the word “traitor”, which in this case says more about the accuser than the accused. The producer of such movies as Pretty Woman, LA Confidential, and this year’s Oscar favorite Twelve Years a Slave, is neither a US citizen nor a permanent resident of the United States. So who exactly is he a traitor to?

Hypocrisy and lies about spies are as American as apple pie. The US spends over $52 billion annually on covert intelligence gathering, including the financing of a CIA-Hollywood unit for messaging to the masses. Simply put, there is no country in the world that spends even a fraction of its resources on the level of spying on other countries that the United States does.

There is a legitimate case to be made that that is a good thing.

But what is not good, and is even ugly, are the self-righteous, indignant claims of outrage and displays of cheep patriotic bravado when somebody is found to be doing in our country far less than what we routinely do abroad, every single day. Like in the movie Casablanca, they are shocked, SHOCKED to learn that there is gambling going on in this establishment! 

The case of Israel is always a good example:

On Friday, October 31, 2008, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sent the following direct instructions to US personnel to spy on Israel (see section G buried at the end) by obtaining the following deeply classified Israeli information:

“ –Current specifications, vulnerabilities, capabilities and planned upgrades to national telecommunications infrastructure, networks and technologies used by government and military authorities, in intelligence and security services, and the public sector….  Details about command, control and communications systems and facilities…. National leadership use of and dependencies on a dedicated telecommunications infrastructure…. Details about information repositories associated with radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled systems used for passports, government badges and transportation systems… personal phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail address of principle civilian and military leaders… Details about wireless infrastructure, cellular communications capabilities and makes and models of cellular phones and their operating systems, to include second generation and third generation systems… Details about foreign and domestic telecommunications service providers and vendors… Details about…”

etc… etc…

We know all of this jaw-dropping information because Bradley Manning, a United States Army soldier who was convicted this year of violations of the US Espionage Act had released the embarrassing and classified Rice memo to Wikileaks. And that was well before US Intelligence Analyst Edward Snowden released the mother-load; the entire US intelligence “black budget”, which clearly showed Israel to be a "priority target” of US espionage... right there in black and white. In fact, with the Snowden releases, it seems that every week brings new revelations of US spying on Israel and other allies. It's the "gift" that keeps on giving.

Both cases of self-inflicted damage to US Intelligence (Manning and Snowden), amount to nothing short of smoking-gun evidence of aggressive US spying on Israel, on a massive scale for such a small country… far beyond anything that Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan, or lowly GS-12 Navy Analyst making less than $40,000 a year, with no access to vital secrets, Jonathan Pollard, had, or even could inflict upon the United States in their wildest dreams.

SIDE NOTE: With both Manning and Snowden being WASP's, like Aldrich Ames, John Walker, Ronald Pelton and so many others, one might cynically wonder if WASP's should be viewed as potentially disloyal to US national security interests... as paranoid anti-Semites would have it with Jews. 

In the meantime, as the usual suspects question Jewish loyalties from the luxury of their armchairs,  three Jewish-Americas working for the US government and who were likely US intelligence assets, are rotting in enemy prisons at this very moment, basically abandoned by their own government (see the bottom of this post for their shocking predicament), and predictably ignored by the usual suspects.  

Thankfully however, no American is rotting in an Israeli jail and few Israelis are throwing childish anti-American temper tantrums in dark corners of the internet because of these US spying revelations.  

The reverse cannot be said to be true. It appears that more than a few of our fellow Americans are less than adults about these matters, and tend towards whining and grudge-holding. How do they think the United States even found out about the Israeli nuclear program in 1958? By a U-2 spy plane violating Israel’s airspace, that’s how. 

Conspiratorial anti-Semites also love to whine about the accidental Israeli attack on the USS Liberty off the coast of  Egypt in the midst of the fog of the 1967 Six Day War... but for some strange reason, they never seem to mention what the USS Liberty actually was. It was; a US spy ship.  

Even the most egregious case of Israeli spying in the United States involving Jonathan Pollard, was primarily a case of Israeli spying in the United States as opposed to spying on the United States. A distinction with a real meaning, because intentions and context in the world of espionage actually matter.

Unlike the above mentioned, Pollard intended no harm to the United States, and he was never charged with treason or aiding an enemy state. That is an inconvenient FACT that knee-jerk, armchair "patriots" never bother to concern themselves with. He was charged with violating Title 18 of the United States Code, section 794(a), divulging classified material. That's it. Those who claim greater harm to the United States beyond the public charges against Pollard, speak as though they are privy to information that is not available to others. A tactic reminiscent of the old Soviet Union, where the accused was routinely deemed guilty by way of secret or concealed evidence that only the politically connected and those “in the know” are supposedly privy to.    

As spelled out clearly in the recently declassified 1987 CIA Damage Assessment Report on the Jonathan Pollard case,  Pollard’s Israeli handler, spymaster Rafi Eitan, who also ran Arnon Milchan and had personally captured war criminal Adolph Eichmann years earlier,  was seeking nuclear, military and technical information on Israel’s surrounding Arab states – not on the United States.  

They were seeking to tap into US intelligence to garner information on their regional enemies, which might help in their ongoing struggles to survive in a bad neighborhood. Information that in hindsight, probably should have been provided through official channels in any event. That is what the public information is clear about.

All the rest is justice by “wink-wink-nod-nod, we know what was really going on and you don't.”

The most common of the lowly lies are that Pollard gave away codes.... or that he gave away names of agents in foreign countries.... etc... None of which he did; none of which he was accused of; none of which he was charged with; none of which he was convicted of; and none of which he even had access to had he wanted to commit such a crime in the first place, given his lowly position. Shame on those who continue to make such accusations without producing the slightest evidence, and continue to portray Pollard as some kind of super-spy in complete contradiction to the CIA Damage Assessment Report in this case, which is available for anyone to read.   

Yes, a government employee releasing any form of classified US intelligence to a foreign country, friendly or not, is an illegal act to be sure, and it was not the bumbling, lowly Jonathan Pollard’s call to make, no matter how he justified it in his mind. When he was caught, he was rightly sent to prison. 
But his outrageously over-the-top sentence was an act of serious corruption in itself. As Professor Angelo Codevilla, a former senior staffer on the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence who was there at the time, asserts: It was a case of a powerful man (Casper Weinberger), whispering sweet nothings in the ear of a corruptible judge (by way of a secret affidavit), who took it upon himself to then ignore a plea bargain and do the powerful man's personal bidding.

Weinberger's last-minute letter to the judge, which is full of generalities and highly charged/prejudicial words, was devoid of any evidence. Weinberger, a man known for his anti-Israel leanings, who had called for strict measures against Israel following its bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, made outrageous accusations against the accused for which he had no personal knowledge and no evidence, and for which the accused was never even charged with. Weinberger's last-minute private letter to the judge was declassified through a FOIA request in 2010.  

The long and short of it is that Pollard was sentenced by this judge to life in prison without a trial. WITHOUT A TRIAL. Even in the Soviet Union they pretended by at least conducting show trials.

After almost thirty years, during which time the United States has routinely pressed Israel to release murdering terrorists with blood on their hands as "confidence building measures"... and after all of the truly aggressive US spying on Israel that has been so ingloriously exposed; Pollard’s continued imprisonment is nothing short of a scandal resembling a hypocritical, old-school vendetta.

It's gotten to the point where The United State is offering to exchange Pollard for the release of Palestinian terrorist murderers from Israeli jails. In other worlds, the US has stoop to holding a hostage to trade for murderers.   

With every passing day, Pollard looks more and more like a martyr and a victim sitting in a gulag, a hostage, rather than a criminal doing his just time. In a historical perspective, his case could very well be placed on the same level as that of the Alfred Dreyfus affair. Is that really in our best interest? And more importantly, is that really in the interest of American justice? Is it a dignified reflection of US Justice?     

____________
 

People in our defense and security establishment are supposed to be brave, but we can pretty much take for granted that hardly anyone in those agencies, where conformity is valued above all, is brave enough to stand up and voice a principled opinion about the miscarriage of justice involving Jonathan Pollard. That might just be a career-ending event if they did... and they know it. But fortunately, plenty of good people have voiced their opinion on the matter after their career in government has ended:     

A few key people who are deeply familiar with the facts of the Pollard case are public supporters of clemency for Jonathan Pollard:

(A partial list)

 

Former National Security Advisor Bud McFarlane (was in the job when it happened)
Former FBI and CIA Director William Webster (was FBI Director when it happened)
Former Secretary of State George Shultz (was Secretary of State When it Happened)
Former Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Senator David Durenberger (was Chairman when it happened)
Former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Lee Hamilton (was Chairman when it happened)
Former CIA Director James Woolsey
Former Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Senator Dennis DeConcini
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Former Vice President Dan Quayle
Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Republican Senator John McCain
Former White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum
Former Deputy Attorney General and Harvard Law Professor Philip Heymann
Former UN Ambassador and Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb

___________

Meanwhile, it might be noted that while Jonathan Pollard has been held for almost 30 years by the US Government....  no less than three Jewish-American's working for the United States Government are currently being held hostage for years in the dungeons of Iran, Pakistan and Cuba, with little or nothing (at least overtly) being done by the US government to free them, and little said about them by the usual suspect:

 

1. Warren Weinstein - Officially working for a "private company" doing work for USAID in Lahore Pakistan when he was kidnapped by al Qaeda on August 13, 2011. The latest video:
 

  
2. Robert Levinson - A "retired" DEA and FBI agent, Levinson was taken hostage on March 9, 2007 on Iran's Kish Island. Note how until recently, the US has described him as a "private investigator". On December 12, 2013, the AP confirmed that he was working for the CIA. So the US's new story is that he was "on an unapproved mission". Yeah right. The United States has since reached political agreements with Iran without, in so far is known, even attempting to condition those agreements on Levinson's release. A shocking betrayal.

 
 3. Alan Gross -  In December of 2009, Alan Gross was arrested in Cuba while working as a USAID "private" subcontractor. He was caught with electronic communications equipment. He was/is still rotting in a Cuban jail as president Obama smilingly shook the hand of Cuba's President, Raul Castro, at the funeral for Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Gross is scheduled for release in over a decade from now in 2024. 

  
4. And then of course there is Jonathan Pollard, held in a US gulag many years beyond anything that could even remotely be considered "justice". Note that all of these prisoners/hostages have long hair and beards.... and look similar in demeanor.  
 

hypocrisy and lies about spies indeed.
 

________________________________________
 

Joseph Gelman is the co-Author of the book Confidential, The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, which outed one of the most prolific producers in Hollywood history as a longtime spy for Israel’s Bureau of Science Liaison.    

---

 

SKY NEWS: "In a place built on fantasy, where the lines between truth and fiction can be blurry, proof again that real life can be just as interesting"

Arnon Milchan: "I Wish I Hadn't Denied It."

THE RACE IS ON: Milchan and Pitt's '12 Years a Slave' in Epic Awards Season Faceoff with 'American Hustle'. Milchan's Past will be Tested.

By Eric Wilder - Hollywood

It may be early, but clearly, an epic battle for the Best Picture Academy Award is now on.... and everybody in the industry knows it. Arnon Milchan and Brad Pitt's 12 Years a Slave, will face off with Columbia Pictures' American Hustle, in an awards-season clash of the titans. Both movies have picked up the bulk of the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild top nominations... which are historic barometers for the Oscars.

If 12 Years a Slave pulls it off, it will be the first Academy Award for Arnon Milchan, one of the most successful and prolific independent producers in Hollywood history. An award that would be long overdue, considering his massive portfolio. It is unknown how recent publicity surrounding Mr. Milchan's extracurricular biography as a former spy will affect the voting. Co-Author of Milchan's biography, Joseph Gelman, said the following:

"Given his massive body of work and contributions to the industry, if there is one person in Hollywood who deserves an Academy Award, it would be Arnon. 12 Years a Slave is a worthy and meaningful candidate for Best Picture. It is a movie that will stand the test of time as perhaps the definitive cinematic portrayal of America slavery, the most problematic institution in American history.  

I don't think that American Hustle, a fun movie, brings that kind of gravitas to the table. It's not a serious movie. It is not a movie that people will look back on 20 years from now, or even a year from now, and say 'wow!' Hollywood likes to think of itself as a meaningful industry, in addition to being an entertainment industry.  

Somewhere deep in Arnon's conscience, I know that he sees 12 Years a Slave as a small measure of repentance for past transgressions involving his activities in South Africa. It's an interesting story of redemption, and Hollywood loves stories of redemption. If Milchan wins the Oscar for this important movie, I would put that as the final scene in the movie version of his biography. A real closing of a circle. A "Hollywood ending" if you will.   

Meir and I will be pulling for 12 Years a Slave, not because of Arnon, but because frankly, it's the best movie of the year. It's that simple."      

Brad Pitt Moves in With Arnon Milchan.... Again!

Following his breakup with Jennifer Aniston in 2004 and hounded by the paparazzi, Brad Pitt moved to Arnon Milchan's house in Malibu. As described in Confidential, Top secret "Operation Brad" involved Pitt traveling to and from the studio by entering and exiting Milchan's garage on a motorcycle with a black full-face helmet, rendering him unrecognizable. Pitt met Angelina Jolie on the set of  Milchan's Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Almost ten years later, Pitt is moving in with Milchan again, this time to his movie production company New Regency.

Hollywood Reporter: "Pitt's Plan B production company, which is riding high on recent hits 12 Years a Slave and World War Z, will exit its home of eight years when its deal with Paramount expires at the end of 2013. Plan B, which Pitt runs with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, is headed toward a three-year deal with Arnon Milchan's New Regency, producer of 12 Years."

Worldwide Coverage of the 'Confidential' Saga!

Over the past few weeks, The 'Confidential' saga has been covered on every continent other than Antarctica... by every major news outlet in the world. Below is a tiny sampling of literally hundreds upon hundreds of articles. Links provided:

The UK Guardian, CNN, The Washington Post, BBC, UK Daily Mail, NBC News, UPI, France24, RT, Al-Arabiya, CBS News, The Hong Kong Standard, Germany's Der Spiegel, New York Daily News, The Hollywood Reporter, Fox News, Associated Press, Huffington Post,  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Italy's La Stampa, The Australian,....

Fox News on the Milchan Story: "This is a Movie in Itself!"

"Hollywood producer by day, Israeli spy by night.
This is a movie in itself!"

CNN: Move Over Argo, It's Arnon Milchan's Story That Should Be Turned Into A Movie!!!

"It's a safe bet that Hollywood execs will be fighting

to bring this story to the big screen!"

CBS News: A Jaw-Dropping Interview as CBS News Talks With 'Confidential' Co-Author Meir Doron

"A new tail of international intrigue is coming to light...."

NBC Nightly News Airs Powerful Segment on 'Confidential' - Millions Tune In

"A movie tycoon whose life story itself is a Hollywood movie,

with him in the staring role!" - Andrea Mitchell, NBC News

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Based on the Book 'Confidential': The Full Israel Channel 2 Milchan Documentary - No Translation But Fully Understandable:

Note: Channel 2 gave full credit to the authors at the end of the live broadcast,
but seem to have cut the credit on their web post of the broadcast.  

TOTAL VINDICATION - AP: Hollywood's Arnon Milchan Says He Was A Spy

                                                         WORLDWIDE COVERAGE

By ARON HELLER Associated Press

Stories about Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan's alleged double life have been circulating for years.

 

Now, the Israeli businessman behind hits like "Pretty Woman," ''Fight Club" and "L.A. Confidential" has finally come forth with a stunning admission — for years he served as an Israeli spy, buying arms on its behalf and boosting its alleged nuclear program.

 

In a far-reaching interview aired Monday with Israel's Channel 2 TV's flagship investigative program "Uvda," Milchan detailed a series of clandestine affairs in which he was involved and particularly how he helped purchase technologies Israel allegedly needed to operate nuclear bombs.

"I did it for my country and I'm proud of it," said Milchan, who ran a successful fertilizer company in Israel before making it big in Hollywood.

 

Even there, he says he continued with his clandestine work while maintaining close ties with Israel's leadership.

 

According to an unauthorized biography published two years ago, Milchan worked for Israel's now-defunct Bureau of Scientific Relations, known as Lekem, which worked to obtain information for secret defense programs. The bureau was disbanded in 1987 after it was implicated in the spying affair for which Jonathan Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, was sentenced to life in prison.

 

Milchan also says other big Hollywood names were connected to his covert affairs.

 

"When I came to Hollywood I detached myself completely from my physical activities to dedicate myself to what I really wanted — filmmaking," he said. "(But) sometimes it gets mixed up."

 

The 68-year-old Milchan founded the New Regency film company and has produced more than 120 movies since the 1970s, working closely with directors such as Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, Sergio Leone and Oliver Stone. He forged an especially close relationship with Robert De Niro, who along with actors Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, is featured in Uvda's broadcast.

 

"I had heard but I wasn't sure," De Niro said, of Milchan's activities. "I did ask him once and he told me that he was an Israeli and of course he would do these things for his country."