Full Article Text

F R I D AY, M A R C H 1 6 , 2 0 0 7Premiere Magazine R.I.P.Premiere Magazine is gone. It's a sad day for me, since so much of myNew York career began and still springs from my time at PremiereMagazine. Like many magazines (Spy, 7 Days, Interview) it had itsheyday and influenced many others and then became a shadow of itsformer self.But I can still remember what a revelation Premiere was in 1987 whenit debuted with the Dan Ackroyd remake of "Dragnet" on the cover.Here was a magazine that talked about the movie industry and wassmart and fun. Before Premiere, you could go to dusty academicjournals for dry essays or just get celebrity profiles. Premiere coveredthe entire movie business, profiling not just stars but agents andwriters and directors and publicity departments and managers. It madethe business side of the movies entertaining and it took theentertaining side of the movies as seriously as the Wall Street Journalcovered business. People certainly went on the sets of films beforePremiere, but it made that journey a mainstay and Premiere didn't justvisit the set and take the guided tour -- it COVERED the making of amovie, complete with drama and excitement and battles over budgetsand casting and the fights that are a part of any business, all withoutdevolving into gossip. It took the work seriously, it took the artistsseriously and it wasn't a puff piece magazine. If you behaved like a jerkon the set, Premiere would make that clear. Today, everyone goes onmovie sets all the time and expects to report faithfully what theyobserve, rather than just provide free publicity for the film. Premiere isa big reason why.Premiere also did innovative articles like "Shot By Shot," whichdetailed how the special effects worked. Behind-the-scenes talent likecomposers and cinematographers and costume and set designers andeditors and special effects guys -- the giants of the industry in theirfields -- got covered and profiled with as much professionalism andvigor as the stars. And the stars were treated with dignity. Premierewould talk about their private lives but it was always in the context of ameaty profile and how it informed their work; not in the context ofwondering who they were sleeping with.Next Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G . C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Premiere Magazine R.I.P.http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/03/premiere-magazine-rip...
1 of 37/25/09 10:45 PM
FAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SAaronMichael in New YorkBiboy POPSURFING.COM: Premiere Magazine R.I.P.http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/03/premiere-magazine-rip...
2 of 37/25/09 10:45 PM
POPSURFING.COM: Premiere Magazine R.I.P.http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/03/premiere-magazine-rip...
3 of 37/25/09 10:45 PM