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."

Israel Accepted as Full Member of CERN, Worlds Largest Science Project

Congratulations to Israel for being accepted as the first non-European full member of CERN today, the prestigious European Organization for Nuclear Research, and the worlds largest ongoing science project. Given Israel's amazing scientific accomplishments, this was an easy call for CERN from a purely scientific perspective. As revealed in the book Confidential, Arnon Milchan was given a VIP tour of CERN on April 25, 2007. An interesting tidbit considering Milchan's key covert role in the Israeli nuclear program in decades past.

On April 25, 2007, Arnon Milchan toured 

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

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."

The New York Times Rejects Repeated Reqeusts for an Article on Israel's Channel 2 Milchan Report... Says Uvda's Report is "Nothing New" and Based Entierly on The Book 'Confidential'.

By Eric Wilder - Hollywood

I'm not a journalist, but I play one on TV...
I use other peoples material and pretend like its mine 

 

 

 

ILANA DAYAN'S ATTEMPTED HIJACKING OF 'CONFIDNTIAL'  

 

Based entirely on the book indeed: After watching the program, there is simply no question that the New York Times had it right and that book 'Confidential' served as the entire script for the Uvda show, in some cases almost word for word.

Her show would not have been even remotely possible without the book which served as her inspiration, her road map, her script and even her dialogue. Ilana Dayan gave a very quick "thanks to Joe Gelman and Meir Doron, the authors of the book" at the end of the show as the credits rolled... almost as an afterthought.

The authors are surly thankful for the "thanks", but fairness would dictate something a little more substantial than a legal ass-covering.  

'Uvda' is Israel Channel 2's leading investigative reporting program, anchored by Ilana Dayan. A year ago, Channel 2 approached the authors of 'Confidential' for help in putting together an investigative program based on the groundbreaking reporting in the book. The authors agreed and co-author Meir Doron was interviewed extensively for background information.

The report aired on Monday, November 25.

As it turned out, a funny thing happened on the way to the airing of that program. Suddenly, Ilana Dayan and her staff began to describe their report as "exclusive discoveries",  "for the first time", "until now only rumors"... etc... forgetting their source.

It should be noted that Mr. Milchan has never denied a single assertion in the book 'Confidential' despite every opportunity to do so, and had interviewed in person for tens of hours for the book. The Uvda program was merely Mr. Milchan's way of coming out and publically saying: THE BOOK IS ACCURATE.

In a desperate and obvious ploy to cover and deflect from her utter dependence on the book, Ilan Dayan then used a source, NBC's Robert Windrem, who was referred to her by anti-nuclear gadfly, Avner Cohen; both of whom are hard-left ideologues with a substantial history of an anti-Israel agenda. Windrem's contribution was based on and limited to his understanding of Milchan's activities in South Africa, written about extensively by the authors of Confidential. 

With authors research in hand, Uvda's producers then made every effort to promote the show as original material and exclusive findings when it was not. Fortunately, aside from their own website (and the wildly unprofessional right-wing publication "Yisrael Hayom" in Israel), prior to the show, no serious publication agreed to cover the issue without crediting the book. 

Examples:
Haaretz, New York Daily News, UK Daily Mail, UK Independent, Hollywood Reporter, The Times of India, The Voice of Russia, The Hong Kong Daily Apple.... etc....

Even following the airing of the show, as the story went viral around the world, most publications had the decency to at least reference the book that made the story possible.

Examples: Fox News, NBC, CBS, The UK Daily Mail, The UK Guardian... etc... some even placing pictures of the book's front cover in their stories. A level of professional courtesy not displayed by Uvda.

But the New York Times, to their credit, went even further:

They refused to publish any report on the 'Uvda' story as a matter of journalistic principle. After being "badgered" by 'Ilana Dayan's producers to do a story, the New York Times responded that there is nothing in the Uvda story worthy of reporting on that has not already been revealed in the book 'Confidential' two years earlier, which the New York Times covered extensively.

Arguably, other than the many elements left out of the Uvda story that are in the book, the ONLY semi-meaningful elements in the 'Uvda' story that differ from 'Confidential' involve:

1) Mr. Milchan implicating former director Sidney Pollock in his espionage activities. Of course, Sidney Pollock is conveniently dead and is not in a position of confirm or deny Mr. Milchan's words. Out of respect to Mr. Pollack and his family, and out of journalistic integrity because it could not be reasonably confirmed, the authors of Confidential left that claim out of their book, refusing to take Mr. Milchan's sole word on that matter at face value.

2) The other element that 'Uvda' claims as 'groundbreaking' is Mr. Milchan's amazingly blatant assertion that he USED actor Richard Dreyfuss to lure one of the fathers of the hydrogen bomb, Author Biehl, to a meeting with Israeli intelligence. That story was mentioned in the book 'Confidential' on pages 137 and 138. The book gave both Mr. Milchan and Mr. Biehl's versions of the story and let the reader decide who was telling the truth, without directly and unfairly involving/implicating Mr. Richard Dreyfuss, who was an unwitting partner to the affair. 'Uvda' simply repeated that story but greatly highlighted the involvement of the Academy Award winning actor to increase the sex appeal of the story at Mr. Dryefuss expense. One wonders how Mr. Dryefuss feels about that? And it is surprising that Ilan Dayan did not seek a reaction from Mr. Dreyfuss, if only as a matter journalistic integrity.

But Ilana Dayan's cynical hijacking did not end there. In promoting the show, Uvda published material almost word for word from the Hebrew version of 'Confidential', and from an article in the respected news website Tablet Magazine, and even used an almost identical graphic for their story that was published in Tablet Magazine... and again claimed the revelations to be "for the first time"... "exclusive"... etc.... Below are posts of the two almost identical stories. I would challenge those who are fluent in English and Hebrew to find the "exclusivity" in the Uvda article:

The 2011 Tablet Magazine article here, and graphic below:

The 2013 Uvda article on Mako here, and graphic below:

          In the end, Uvda and Ilana Dayan do have one achievement that cannot be denied or taken away; they successfully got Mr. Arnon Milchan on camera to publicly admit to the very serious clandestine activity that was revealed in the book 'Confidential', which he had not denied since the publication of the book in the first place. That alone is an impressive achievement on her part. Thus, one wonders why Ilana Dayan felt the need to embellish and claim "exclusive"... "for the first time" credit on the actual substance of journalistic discoveries that she had absolutely nothing to do with.

One of Israel's leading media critics, Dvorit Shargal put it best in her stinging report on the matter in her website Velvet Underground: "'Uvda' did not reveal Milchan's Secret Life" ... Confidential did that!

The Aftermath:
Perhaps one of the most appalling aspects of this journalistic malfeasance, were the efforts by Israel's channel 2 to block international media outlets from using their footage in reporting on the story. When NBC News' Andrea Mitchell called to seek approval to use Uvda footage on a story for NBC Nightly News' broadcast nationally in the US, Israel's channel 2 resisted giving authorization. In the end, NBC used the material after a legal determination that it fell under the "fair usage" rule for news.

So what we have here is Israel's channel 2 using other peoples material without extending due credit, and then throwing up roadblocks to those, like NBC News, who would use their material legitimately.

I believe the word for that is Chatzpah.

Hollywood Reporter: Milchan Confirms the Claims in 'Confidential'

VINDICATION FOR THE AUTHORS:
Milchan's secret has long been rumored and was the subject of a 2011 book by Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman called Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, which examined his recruitment by longtime politician and current Israeli president Shimon Peres back in the 1960s. Milchan was selected then as a liaison for the secretive Bureau of Scientific Relations, Lekem, which was founded to obtain technology and material for Israel's nuclear program. Over the years, the 68-year-old Milchan handled clandestine deals involving Israeli military acquisitions, and promoted Israeli's nuclear project. Getting Milchan to finally confess in detail in front of a camera was not an easy task, reveals Ilana Dayan, an investigative journalist and the host of Uvda, which opens its 20th season Monday night on Channel 2's Keshet Broadcasting with the Milchan story. Read the entire article here.

Ha'aretz: Hollywood is Always on the Lookout for Blockbuster Stories, and This Coming Monday it will get the Juicy Details

Although this is the first time that Milchan has spoken about the subject since the publication of 'Confidential'....

This isn’t the first time Milchan's role in Israeli arms dealings and intelligence has surfaced: Just two years ago authors Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman published a book titled “Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan" – which alleged that Milchan was an operative for Israel's Bureau of Scientific Relations. The bureau, headed by spy-masters Benjamin Blumberg and Rafi Eitan, gathered information for secret defense-related programs, including Israel's alleged nuclear program. The bureau was closed after Jonathan Pollard was arrested for spying on behalf of Israel in 1986.

The "Uvda" report does, however, contain some shocking new details about Milchan's work, including claims that other Hollywood bigwigs like the legendary, late director Sydney Pollack and at least one other Academy Award-winning actor, both figured into his work for Israel.

Based on The Book 'Confidential', Israel's Channel 2 Delivers an Explosive Investigative Report on the Life of Arnon Milchan in Prime Time

Israel's Channel Two will premier its top investigative show with an explosive report based on the book 'Confidential'. The show, Uvda meaning 'fact' in Hebrew, will be aired on Monday, November 25 at 9:00 PM. Below is the lead promo that will be aired in heavy rotation until show time. Uvda is Israel's number-one rated investigative journalism show:

Post by ‎עובדה‎.

Based on the book 'Confidential', Israel's Channel 2 is to air an investigative journalism show on the life of Arnon Milchan, and have successfully secured Mr. Milchan's participation. This is the first interview on the matter that Mr. Milchan has agreed to do, fully two years after the publication of 'Confidential'. Below is the short promo for the show, to be aired on Monday at 9:00 PM in Israel:

Post by ‎עובדה‎.

Israel's Channel 2 to Air Lengthy Interview with Arnon Milchan, Possibly about Subjects Raised in 'Confidential'

Israel's Channel 2 Ilana Dayan is not a pushover. She Interviewed Arnon Milchan for the Investigative show 'Uvda'. It has the potential to be a blockbuster of an interview if she did not hold back, and no back-room deals were cut.  

A bird has just whispered in our ear, informing us that a lengthy interview with Hollywood Producer Arnon Milchan has been given to Israel's premier investigative journalism show 'Uvda', a few days ago. The show will air in prime time, 9:00 PM, in approximately two weeks. Channel 2 is Israel's most watched station, and Uvda is it's most important investigative show. The interviewer, Ilana Dayan is one of Israel's most respected investigative journalists. Channel 2 will begin promoting the show, which will also be its season premier, in the coming days.

Clearly, a number of crucial elements exposed in the book 'Confidential' will be discussed, and this may represent the first time that Arnon Milchan has agreed to discuss such matters publicly. We do not know exactly what was said in the interview, but we do know that the book 'Confidential' served as the significant resource for the interviewer. Ilana Dayan is not known to throw soft-balls, or to be used as a PR tool, so there is a good chance that the interview will be authentic and impactful. Stay tuned.

Nationally Syndicated Columnist, Cal Thomas, Mentions 'Confidential' in his new Column about Jonathan Pollard - In 550 US Publications

Pollard supporters are circulating a classified memo written by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which they say instructs the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to “spy” on Israel. The document was released by WikiLeaks and published in the Guardian in 2010 and is included in the book, “The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan,” by Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman. If the same standard were applied to Rice as has been applied to Pollard, Rice might be in an Israeli prison.

Read the entire article here. Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist who's articles are featured in over 550 newspapers across North America.

Austrailia's James Packer Takes a Big Gamble on Movies... With Arnon Milchan's Help

Australia's James Packer is planning Hollywood movie projects with screen legends Clint Eastwood and Warren Beatty as part of a $450 million film deal which will deliver spin-off benefits for his new Sydney casino resort. Mr Packer, whose Crown Ltd has increased in value by $3 billion in the last four months, said he "could not be thankful enough" to Mr. Arnon Milchan who helped seal the deal with Warner by vouching for his business acumen.

Arnon Milchan Opens His Latest Hit 'Runner Runner'

In a script that is very different from, yet matches the feel of his own biography, Runner Runner brings it home.

Arnon Milchan and Anthony Mackie open Runner Runner in Las Vegas

 

 



Arnon Milchan to Back Development of a Large Israeli Film Studio

Arnon Milchan and former Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Leiberman, swooped in to the Israeli desert city of Arad in Milchan's private helicopter to inspect the location for the proposed new studio, promoted as Israel's future 'Hollywood'.

 “If the studio would have been here, the movies would have been here,” Milchan told NJJN at the follow-up press conference. “If I pay Brad Pitt $20 million for a movie, I can tell him where I’m shooting it. You think Brad Pitt would rather shoot in Budapest than here? Brad will have a good time here.”

Milchan said that his new film Noah, a biblical blockbuster, would have been filmed in Israel and not Iceland had the Jewish state had a studio of the kind that he is proposing (Russell Crowe is to star in the movie, due next March.). Milchan also stated that Israel should have been the site of a forthcoming production by British director Ridley Scott based on the biblical Book of Exodus.

“There are zero worries about Israel,” he said. “Hollywood considers it the safest place in the world. And it’s no secret that Hollywood has many proud Jews and non-Jewish Zionists who make key decisions.” Milchan is clearly one of them.

An expert on how much movies cost to make and how much money they can earn, Milchan believes entering the movie-making industry could bring Israel a windfall of $5-10 billion if the state can offer tax breaks that can compete with what producers receive from other countries. Given that his good friend and protégé, Yair Lapid, is now Israeli Finance Minister, he will certainly find an open mind on that front.

“The money invested by countries comes back in jobs, hotels, restaurants, construction, tourism, etc.,” he said. “It’s also important public relations for the country. It is possible to build a first-class studio here in Arad. If we do, and there is cooperation from all sides, there is no reason why the biggest productions won’t come to Arad instead of Budapest.”

Two Years On and Vietnam is Still Covering Elements of 'Confidential'

 



They love Confidential in Vietnam, and proof of that is that two years after the publication of the groundbreaking book, they are still covering elements of the story.

Happy Birthday to President Peres

Israeli President Shimon Peres discusses the life of Arnon Milchan
with 'Confidential' co-author Joseph Gelman at the President's office in Jerusalem.

 

Israeli President Shimon Peres is celebrating his 90th birthday. President Peres is a mentor and father figure to Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. It was he who personally recruited Mr. Milchan to the service of his country. over the years, Milchan has personally introduced Holywood's top talent to President Peres, and many have arrived to celebrate the President's birthday.  Even well known Jewish publications in the United States were surprised by the impressive a-listers who arrived, unaware of the deep relationships that have developed over the years. Milchan's longtime close friend, Robert de Niro let it all hang out:    



“I always enjoy coming to Israel. Israelis are warm, they’re energetic people. Forthright. Very smart. I always like smart people. They’re nice people, you know. Aggressive, and I respect that aggressiveness because you need it in their situation,” De Niro said

Absolutely correct.

Arnon Milchan To Recieve the Italian Ischia Legends Award

ROME – Arnon Milchan, who produced a long series of Hollywood successes including Fight Club, L.A. Confidential, and the epic Once Upon a Time in America, will receive the career achievement prize at the Ischia Global Film & Music Fest, organizers announced.

In a statement, Milchan said the Ischia Legends Award was a “dream come true” for him, while Pascal Vicedomini, the festival’s founder, called the 68-year-old “one of the industry’s most prolific and successful producers.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Man Behind the Candidate: Arnon Milchan's Protégé, Yair Lapid, Scores Big in Israeli Election

As documented in the book Confidential: Years ago, Yair Lapid was hired by Arnon Milchan to run the television division of New Regency Films in Los Angeles. Milchan was friends with Yair's father Tommy Lapid. The show Malcolm in the Middle was produced by New Regency during that period. The two [Yair and Arnon] developed a close friendship that has lasted to this day. When Mr. Milchan was honored at Paramount Studios a few years ago, it was Yair Lapid who was asked to give a heart-warming key-note speech about his close  friend Arnon:

When Lapid needed help establishing his new political party, Yesh Atid, Milchan was there to help (financially and otherwise). In fact, even Arnon Milchan's daughter Elinor signed on as a founding member of the party.  Yesterday it all paid off when Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid Party won a whopping 19 seats in Israel's parliament (Knesset), making it the second largest political party in Israel. Lapid is now in a position to dictate terms for the establishment of the next Israeli government because Netanyahu does not have enough seats without Lapid to establish a government. Since Mr. Milchan is close friends with both Mr. Lapid and Mr. Netanyahu, once again, he is uniquely positioned to play the key role in brokering the establishment of the next Israeli government. While the media in the US, and the US administration rush to find out who Yair Lapid is, Arnon Milchan is a hundred miles ahead of them as usual.  

SIDENOTE: Yair Lapid was interviewed extensively for the book Confidential. And here's a little tip for the know-nothing media; Yair Lapid's son worked on Capital Hill for US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) until the Senator was defeated in the 2010 midterm elections. Mark Mellman, Lapid's campaign manager also did work for Russ Fiengold. Connect the dots. Go to it... use the info without giving credit... we are use to it.

UPDATE: As predictable as the sun rising in the east, Israel's Ha'aretz, 48 hours after our post, picks up on our analysis:  "Now the two good friends of Hollywood film producer Arnon Milchan can make use of him to forge mutual trust and to create the strong axis around which the next government will be created." You are welcome Ha'aretz.

 

A Fantastic Interview with Arnon Milchan at Locarno Film Festival

Arnon Milchan basically confirms every word in the book Confidential about his Hollywood career. A fascinating interview if you have a little time.

RT Runs Lengthy Segment On Milchan "Nuclear Smuggling"

The segment was also posted on Al Jazeera. It should be noted that claims of Netanyahu's involvment in 'Operation Pinto' are based only on the testimoney of convicted nuclear smuggler Richard Kelly Smyth and have never been independently verified.

Terry Gilliam Explains Arnon Milchan's Reaction to Sid Sheinberg's Comment about 'Brazil' as "The Film of The Decade".

In a newly released clip, director Terry Gilliam describes a classic Hollywood moment, which is detailed in Confidential. Following the screening of Brazil to Universal executives at the Afred Hitchcock theater, Gilliam immediately sensed that they hated it. Universal boss, Sid Sheinberg, came out and called it "the movie of the decade". Milchan though he meant it, but Gilliam understood that it was a snide comment and represented the first shot in "the battle of Brazil". A knock down, drag out, war with the studio to get the movie released:

The Battle of Brazil also represented the beginning of bad blood between Arnon Milchan and Sid Sheinberg. At one point, Sheinberg publicly challenged Milchan to "put his money where his mouth is". Milchan replied in public that "anti-Semitisim is anti-Semitisim even if it comes from an assimilated Beverly Hills Jew." As described in Confidential, years later, Milchan ran into Sid Sheinberg on Broad Beach in Malibu. "He was strolling along when he encountered a  friendly dog and began to play with it. Within moments, the dog's owner suddenly appeared and he was not happy, saying 'excuse me, that's my dog.' Milchan turned around and saw Sid Sheinberg. 'Oh, I guess that means we're neighbors now," he said surprised. Sheinberg was neither friendly nor amused. "you're going to reduce the property values around here," he replied. They have never spoken since."

Arnon Milchan's Daughter Alexandra Sues New Martin Scorsese Film

Arnon Milchan and renowned director Martin Scorsese have a long history of friendship going back all the way to the early 1980's and the production of The King of Comedy. Now Arnon Milchan's daughter, Alexandra, is suing Scorsese's new film The Wolf of Wall Street. No word on how this development is affecting the two legendary filmmakers relationship.

Arnon Milchan observes his friend Martin Scorsese directing Jerry Lewis on the set of The King of Comedy, 1982.

Cleveland Jewish News Lists the Release of 'Confidential' as an Important Event in Jewish History for July 30th

One Smart Little Paper Indeed: The Cleveland Jewish News lists the release of Confidential as an important event in Jewish History for July 30th, (2011): 

"2011: Gefen Books is scheduled to release Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, by brothers-in-law Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman, which “tells the story of an Israeli nuclear intelligence agent who found his way into the film business.”