Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Hollywood Con Queen: Everything You Need to Know

For two years, a man impersonating various industry power players has been preying upon the most vulnerable people in Hollywood—cold-calling hundreds of freelancers, promising them the break they have been waiting for. He’s been dubbed the “Con Queen of Hollywood” by the Hollywood Reporter, because he usually pretends to be a woman—specifically, a high-profile producer like Amy Pascal, Kathleen Kennedy, or Deborah Snyder. He’ll affect a British accent or a Midwestern twang, concoct an elaborate backstory and gin up falsified documents. He’ll even try a little phone sex if he thinks it will help reel somebody in. “A lot of thought and performance has gone into this—unlike any I’ve really seen,” one intelligence director tells Julie Miller. Miller spent weeks talking to victims as she investigated the scammer—still at large even now. “This is somebody who grew up running scams, has always had a taste for impersonation and voices, and just like weaving stuff out of thin air. I believe this person is a sociopath—somebody where the line between reality and this make-believe world is not clear.”
Elsewhere in HWD, Richard Lawson rounds up the most intriguing films at the Venice Film Festival before decamping for Italy for the week; contributor Oren Pelegtracks The Dark Crystal’s winding path from cult film to Netflix series; Laura Bradley runs down the various dangling threads 13 Reasons Why must resolve in its coming fourth and final season; and Yohana Destareports from Harvey Weinstein’s latest court appearance.