Weil alleged in the lawsuit that he had been " tricked " into participating in what he thought would solely be a school project . Witternborn recalls that when he was questioned by Weil during the filming , he told Weil about his work in film and television , and that they hoped to sell the film to HBO . Johnson recalls Weil constantly vacillated during the making of the movie between being the most enthusiastic film participant , who expressed his ideas for film scenes , to being nervous about the criticism from his friends regarding his participation . Other film subjects also had regrets about participating and some also claimed they were told that it was a student film and thought it would never be seen by a large audience . Johnson denied any deception , saying they all signed releases that were fully explained to them . In a decision dated September 27 , 2002 , the New York Supreme Court dismissed Weil 's lawsuit , ruling 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 . " '' 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
2003 Sundance Film Festival
2003 Sundance Film Festival
Born Rich (2003 film)