Going into the project, the authors realized their subject would take about as kindly to the book as Oprah Winfrey did to Kitty Kelley‘s recent bio. So they opted for the strategy of writing the book in full, secretly, and then alerting Milchan. Once the book was completed in 2009, it did not take long for the pair to hook up with their subject. Per an essay by the authors on FoxNews.com:

Milchan requested a series of meetings over the matter, which ended up involving many cigarettes, herbal teas, shots of tequila, and Stella beer. We met his wife Amanda and his new child Shimon (named after Shimon Peres), his butler John, and other friends and family in the casual setting of his Malibu home, the former residence of acclaimed director John Frankenheimer, and the house where Robert Kennedy stayed the night before his assassination at the Ambassador Hotel the following morning.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Elsewhere in the bar, former Miramax founder Harvey Weinstein ambled in, but refused to say anything to reporters. “I’m not talking to anyone up here,” he said before joining Wendi Deng‘s table.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Gamco Investors Mario Gabelli, NBA commissioner David Stern, ICM’s Chris Silbermann and Page 1 Media’s Isaac Lee were spotted.

Earlier Google. co-founder Sergey Brin lauded the search engine deal they have with Yahoo, saying Yahoo was a “good company with good people,” but he deferred all other questions to Yahoo! chairman Jerry Yang, who is due into Sun Valley today.

Brin was also approached by Sony Corp.’s Katsumi Ihara who wanted to discuss TVs, but Ihara was thrown for a loop when he was told the screen Brin usually used was a Toshiba.

Also, the mystery continues. Just who is Ken Starr? The journos in Sun Valley were all convinced it was the former prosecutor who had a Jones about Bill Clinton. When confronted, this Starr denied any connection to that Starr, who is currently Dean of Pepperdine Law School. But he refused to disclose who or what Starr & Co. actually does.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Terry Semel, the former Hollywood studio boss, stepped aside at Yahoo!, after 6 years in the executive suite. Co-founder and Chief Yahoo Jerry Yang became CEO (here’s his My New Job memo) , with Sue Drecker as president. Semel will remain as nonexecutive chairman. Yang is seen by some as a placeholder.

Why?
Yahoo lost ad dollars to Google and share price dropped under Semel’s watch. Shareholders got cranky during the annual meeting earlier this month.

Semel also didn’t acquire DoubleClick, Feedburner, MySpace, Facebook or YouTube, and the original content never materialized.

The entertainment was a bust. Employee morale was low.

Semel’s pay package has been decried, as has the company’s cooperation with the Chinese internet police.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.