Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets—Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These people continue to make moves, so rather than waiting for the next Haute 100 issue to come out, we thought we’d provide you with regular updates on those Haute 100 members who are making headlines. On our Haute 100 Miami list is Brett Ratner, the director best known for bringing to the big screen some of the most comedic action series and making the music industry a little bit hauter.
Brett Ratner
Category: Thinkers
Company: HSI Productions
Industry: Film
What Made Him Haute: Ratner’s is the ultimate story of local boy gone big-time. As a blockbusting director (and former Haute Living cover subject and also cover photographer), Ratner has racked up a list of films that have grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide, but he never forgets his Miami Beach roots. He made his first entrée into the world of film at age 13 by stalking around the set of Scarface, scoring a cameo as a background extra in the 1983 Brian De Palma film. He has referred to himself as the “Ferris Bueller of Miami Beach,” and his connections led him to be accepted into NYU’s prestigious film school when he was only 16. His paternal grandfather, Lee Ratner, a mega-developer responsible for the naming of Lee County in Southwest Florida, was a close friend of Haute 100 member Al Malnik, who became like a father to Brett. Because of this relationship, Brett can claim some responsibility in the transformation of Miami Beach from a geriatric haven into an international haute spot. When photographer Bruce Weber came to town in 1985 to shoot a Calvin Klein campaign, the Beach was suddenly crawling with models with nothing to do. It was Ratner and Al Malnik’s son Shareef to the rescue, and Malnik’s restaurant The Forge became the go-to haute spot. Ratner got on the payroll, earning $500 per week for his efforts turning the restaurant into a must-see on Miami Beach. Today, the Hollywood great continues to turn out blockbusters while also operating Rat Press, a publishing company that is described as “everything that film is not.”
What Makes Him Haute Now: Promising another action/comedy flick, director Brett Ratner has enlisted actors Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller and Alan Alda to his newest movie: “Tower Heist.” Ben Stiller is set to play a building manager who enlists a team of the building’s maintenance and operating crew to go on a heist of Alan Alda, who plays a Bernie Madoff-type character that has looted the former’s pension fund. Eddie Murphy, who is also an executive producer, plays a safe-cracking thug who helps, and might later betray, Stiller and his team.
The script is said to have gone through major revisions; it was formerly proposed as an “African American Ocean’s Eleven,” with a cast that included Chris Rock. Jeff Nathanson is currently revising the scripts latest draft. The film is said to begin production by the end of this year.
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October 20, 2010Haute 100 New York Update: Marc Jacobs
