that the subject matter of the film was newsworthy, and that the releases Weil had signed in 2000 clearly identified the film as a commercial production. The film had been submitted to the Sundance Film Festival when the court ruling was reported by the press in October 2002. Changes were apparently made to the film after Weil became incensed after the film's debut at Sundance. Wittenborn remarked on Weil's reaction to the film, "We could have made him [Weil] look worse. We were being kind." Johnson concurred that there was "some reservation on our part in terms of editing". Johnson thought that Weil was "the most honest person in the film", who was "willing to say things...that may reflect what our peers are thinking all the time." Release Born Rich was selected for a noncompetition screening at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, where it was a hit. The film premiered at Sundance on January 19, 2003 in the American Spectrum category. Every seat at the screening was occupied and a couple dozen people were turned away. Sheila Nevins, executive vice president for original programming at HBO, decided to see the film at Sundance when she saw a line around the block for it. An edited version of the film was produced after it was acquired by HBO. In July 2003, it was promoted at the HBO presentation at the Television Critics Association convention in Los Angeles by Johnson and three film subjects. Johnson was on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss Born Rich in a namesake episode that also featured Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton, two days before HBO's big screen premiere of the film in New York City on October 15, 2003. Five heirs from the film attended the premiere with Johnson. According to Johnson, although Georgina Bloomberg did not attend the opening, she sent him a note afterwards saying she was happy with the film's success and the wide audiences that were able to see it. A week before the premiere, some of Georgina's remarks in the film were reported in a New York Daily News article that included a response from a spokesperson for her father, the then mayor of New York. There were sold-out screenings of the film in New York for weeks. Johnson appeared with S.I. Newhouse IV on Paula Zahn Now on CNN to discuss the film the day before its October 24, 2003