'Born Rich'... and now richer: A decade after Johnson & Johnson heir lifted the lid on growing up with millions for an HBO documentary that got him sued, MailOnline looks at what the film's precocious stars are doing now
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In October 2003, before Paris Hilton and the Kardashians made reality TV shows about wealth a national obsession, HBO debuted the documentary 'Born Rich.'
Jamie Johnson, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune and a budding filmmaker, convinced 10 of his fellow trust-funders to talk on camera about growing up in the lap of luxury.
He spent years interviewing them in their lavish Manhattan apartments, following as they summered in the Hamptons and filming as they showjumped, fenced, shopped and partied.
His resulting film was so controversial it saw Johnson simultaneously sued by one of its main participants, gaming heir Luke Weil, and nominated for two Emmy Awards.
'I have a few regrets looking back,' Johnson confessed to MailOnline this month as we explored what the documentary's precocious subjects - from Weil, to Ivanka Trump, Mayor Bloomberg's daughter Georgina and the filmmaker himself - have done since, given they really didn't have to do anything.
LUKE WEIL
While nervous from the beginning about the project he labelled 'tacky,' Luke Weil, heir to the Autotote (now Scientific Games) fortune, came across as the most obnoxious of all his 'Born Rich' peers. And he sued for defamation, though the judge threw the case out of court.
The rant that made him, if briefly, infamous went: 'Did you ever have someone piss you off? Somebody rubs you the wrong way. And I'm up at boarding school. And this guy's from some shit town in Connecticut, I don't know. I can just say, f*** you, I'm from New York. My family can buy your family, piss off. And this is petty, and this is weak, and this is very underhanded, but it's so easy, you know.'
In another memorable quote, Weil said: 'Pre-nup, it's been drilled into my head since I was five years old... All the way, and if this little ungrateful b**** has the nerve to say something like "that's unromantic" then she's just a gold-digger and I don't want to get married to her anyways.'
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Concerned: While nervous about the project being labelled 'tacky,' Luke Weil, pictured, heir to the Scientific Games fortune, seemed the most obnoxious of all his 'Born Rich' peers
Later, Weil started at Columbia Business School, where Scientific Games CEO A. Lorne Weil, his father, is a member of the board of overseers and sponsors a $14,000 business plan writing competition.
He was set to graduate with the class of 2007, but there was a hitch. Weil was serving an eight month sentence in a TriBeCa detention center.
He allegedly hit British music producer Tarka Cordell with a broken liquor bottle at a socialite's birthday party and, on a separate occasion, physically assaulted his then-girlfriend Patrice Jordan causing 'deep bruises and lacerations to her face, neck, and head.'
Today Weil insists he can't relate to most of what he said in the 2003 documentary, which was filmed when he was a 19-year-old college sophomore.
Painful: Weil said he can't relate now to most of what he said in the 2003 documentary, and described the experience as an 'extremely painful chapter' in his life
Busy: Weil now manages a small investment vehicle and is VP of International Business Development in Latin America for Scientific Games. He is pictured right on a 2012 trip to Ecuador to assist farming families there
'It was definitely an extremely painful chapter, and being unintentionally famous - infamous - really wasn't fun,' he told MailOnline.
But he said he came out of the detention center a changed man.
'Incarceration was a deeply important, transformative experience, and I am a better man for having been through it,' he said.
After college, he worked at Bear Stearns and completed his MBA in 2008.
City pad: Weil rents an apartment in a building on Central Park South, pictured, and owns a small place on Long Island
While he may not be 'indispensable' as per his dream for the future in the decade-old film, Weil now manages a small investment vehicle, Andina Acquisition Corporation, in Colombia and is Vice President of International Business Development in Latin America for Scientific Games - his dad's company.
The 34-year-old bachelor, who lives in a building on Central Park South and owns a small beach house on Long Island, also sits on a range of boards and is involved in charities including The Fortune Society, Concerned Citizens of Montauk and organizations that work to preserve the Amazon and support its indigenous people.
'I've pledged to devote a good amount of time and energy to worthy causes, and I'd like to think I've been living up to that,' he told MailOnline. But his new reputation comes at a cost.
Weil's name was linked to an online reputation management scam, unearthed by New York Magazine this year, where clients pay to have Google inundated with positive entries, some of which have turned out to be fake.
Weil told MailOnline he signed up to the service to counter the negative stories from his past with the positive things he'd been doing.
'The group I used were great about drafting press releases and some other posts, but they also put me on the board of some business news blog,' he explained.
The blog turned out to be bogus, and his involvement only added to the negative stories that show up on Google.
'It never occurred to me to say, "hey is this real?"' Weil said.
As for his relationship with Johnson now a decade has passed: 'I bump into him from time to time and it's always cordial.'
STEPHANIE ERCKLENTZ
A giggling blonde with daddy's credit card, Wellesley graduate Stephanie Ercklentz gushed about her penchant for Gucci handbags in 'Born Rich.'
Daughter of Mai V. Hallingby-Harrison and Enno W. Ercklentz Jr - a successful international and corporate lawyer in New York - Ercklentz's most memorable lines in the documentary refer to dating within her 'social background' to avoid getting admonished for buying $600 shoes.
'I've never actually dated outside my social background. I guess it's your compatibility, somebody on your same wavelength, understanding where you came from,' she laments.
Privileged: Wellsley graduate Stephanie Ercklentz, pictured in 'Born Rich,' gushed about her penchant for Gucci handbags in the film
Married well: Ercklentz, pictured shopping in the film, married hotshot hedgefund manager Charles Payson Coleman III aka 'Chase' in 2005
'I'm sure I would but he'd have to understand that I love going shopping somewhere and spending all this money on something and (someone of a lesser class) might get mad at me for being stupid and spending all this money on a Gucci purse but of course I'm like "I have to have it!"'
Luckily, Ercklentz, now 36, doesn't have to justify splashing the cash. Two years after the documentary was released she married hotshot hedgefund manager Charles Payson Coleman III aka 'Chase' at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach.
Coleman, 38, of old money and new, runs Tiger Global, which was dubbed 2011's most profitable hedge fund. The major Republican Party donor was an early investor in Facebook and Tiger Global made an estimated $1 billion selling its entire stake in the social network earlier this year.
Still friends: Stephanie Coleman, right, was photographed in January 2012 at a benefit with fellow 'Born Rich' star Christina Floyd, left
He is also a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, who was the last Dutch governor of New York and built the wall that Wall Street is named after.
The couple, who have small children, paid $36.5 million for a whole floor in a building on Fifth Avenue in 2008 from Veronica Hearst. The family also have homes on Long Island and in Palm Beach, Florida.
However, Ercklentz did have a career before she wed.
In the film she recalls a brief stint at investment bank Merrill Lynch and explains why she finally threw in the towel.
'They work you to the ground,' she says.
Big spenders: The couple, who have small children, paid $36.5 million for a whole floor in a building, pictured left, on Fifth Avenue in 2008. Ercklentz's engagement ring is pictured right
'"Welcome to Merrill Lynch and to working your butt off." I enjoyed it, and I learned a lot about finance. But I didn't have the drive anymore. I would see people who would sit there and sit there and I was like "my friends are at downtown Cipriani right now drinking bellinis and I'm here crunching numbers that are never going to get looked at."'
So she quit.
She then worked as the public relations manager for high-end fashion line Vera Wang - which dressed her nine bridesmaids - before giving that up too, ahead of the no-expenses-spared Palm Beach wedding for 370 guests.
In a comment to MailOnline, Ercklentz - now Coleman - said, in hindsight, she regretted being a part of the documentary.
'I had approached this documentary as something lighthearted and satirical,' she said. 'As I look back, it wasn't funny, and I certainly regret participating as this doesn't reflect who I am or my values.'
However she remains friends with at least one of her 'Born Rich' co-stars, appearing at a 2012 party with Christina Floyd.
CHRISTINA FLOYD
Ten years ago, Christina Floyd, the bubbly, attractive young daughter of golfing legend Raymond Floyd and heiress to his sporting fortune, gave the world a tour of her Hamptons.
'My parents have a helicopter, which is really fun and they take it to and from the city when they go usually,' she says. 'And if I'm smart, I figure out when they're going and I can either get a ride in or out… but then I have to take a car (the other way).'
She explained to Johnson's camera that she had spent the day lunching with friends at the Bathing Corporation, an exclusive Southampton beach club.
Hamptons life: Ten years ago, Christina Floyd, pictured, the bubbly, attractive young daughter of golfing legend Raymond Floyd and heiress to his sporting fortune, gave the world a tour of her Hamptons
Lavish: Floyd is seen in the documentary pouring champagne at Jamie Johnson's 21st birthday party
As they pass The Meadow Club tennis association where Floyd says all members must wear white, Johnson points out an African American man hitting balls on one of the courts, 'Is he a member?'
'He's probably a pro,' Floyd says.
She goes on to describe the etiquette in the 'WASP-y' Southampton world she's a part of.
'I brought three or four Jewish friends to the Bathing Corporation today for lunch and it was fine,' she says, but then adds with a laugh, 'Actually I don't know that's the first time I ever brought anyone so, who knows, I may get kicked out tomorrow but I think it was fine.'
She adds: 'The people at the club probably wouldn't be that excited if someone came in with a black person ... not that I have any problem with it please.'
Beach nuptials: In May 2010, the heiress, right, married Emmanuel Di Donna, left, a French gallery owner, in a lavish beach wedding in Mexico
Since then, Floyd, now 33, earned a bachelor's degree in art history and communications from Wake Forest University in North Carolina and started her own business, Floyd Contemporary, as an art adviser.
In May 2010, the heiress married Emmanuel Di Donna in a lavish beach wedding in Mexico.
Until November that year, her groom was the worldwide vice chairman of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's, where he worked for 16 years. The Frenchman, now 41, later opened his own gallery, Blain Di Donna, with partner Harry Blain.
Lavish home: The couple live in a pre-war building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, pictured
Floyd wore a Carolina Herrera dress and Di Donna wore a white Ralph Lauren Purple Label suit and neither wore shoes as they took their vows on the sand.
The couple's pooch Oscar was the ring bearer.
As well as having her own company, Floyd is junior chairwoman of the Animal Medical Center and a member of the Young Friends of the Guggenheim.
Floyd, who declined to be interviewed for this article, and her husband are now ensconced in a pre-war building on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
IVANKA TRUMP
The most well-known heir or heiress from 'Born Rich' is Ivanka Trump.
Unlike others, the young real estate darling, who had already graced the cover of Seventeen magazine, came across down-to-earth, never dissing her family or the privilege she was born into.
'No matter what I hear about my parents and my family the fact is I am absolutely proud to be a Trump and of everything they have accomplished,' she says, though she does confess that at times she worries about living in her parents' shadow.
Young: The most well-known heir or heires in 'Born Rich' was Ivanka Trump, pictured
Tour: Trump shows Johnson her childhood room, which looks like any little girl's bedroom, apart from the uninterrupted floor-to-ceiling views of Central Park from its windows in Trump Tower
Still a teen when she was filmed, Trump shows Johnson her childhood room, which looks like any little girl's bedroom, apart from the uninterrupted floor-to-ceiling views of Central Park from its windows in Trump Tower.
She clearly always knew she'd end up working with her father.
'I like looking at the New York skyline and wondering what patch of sky one of my buildings will one day be in,' she says in the film. 'I've always wanted to go into real estate development. I guess it's in the blood.'
After walking down catwalks for Versace and Thierry Mugler and doing campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger among others, Trump moved into the corporate world.
Yummy mommy: In July 2011, Trump gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Arabella Rose, pictured with her mom over the weekend
New edition: This month the couple's second child, Joseph Frederick Kushner, was born. He is pictured above with his mother
Having graduated the University of Pennsylvania with an economics degree in 2004, she worked for Forest City Enterprises before joining the family business.
She is now executive vice president of development & acquisitions at The Trump Organization, involved with all aspects of the company's real estate and hotel management initiatives and with an office on the 25th floor of Trump Tower next to her two brothers.
Elle Decor: Last year, the couple opened their Park Avenue home - naturally in a Trump building - to the world, allowing it to appear in the pages of Elle Decor, pictured
She also launched her own line of jewellery under the label Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry and The Ivanka Trump Lifestyle Collection, which includes fragrance, footwear, handbags, outerwear and eyewear collections.
In 2006, she began appearing in the Apprentice, helping her father judge the business hopefuls.
After dating Topher Grace from 'That '70s Show' in 2006, the stunning heiress converted to Judaism and married fellow scion Jared Kushner in October 2009.
Kushner is also in real estate and owns the New York Observer. In July 2011, Trump gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Arabella Rose, and this month the couple's second child, Joseph Frederick Kushner, was born.
Last year, the couple opened their Park Avenue home - naturally in a Trump building - to the world, allowing it to appear in the pages of Elle Decor.
They also have a home in Palm Beach, Florida and spend weekends golfing in New Jersey.
The busy mom did not respond to MailOnline's request for comment.
CODY FRANCHETTI
The European textile heir was up there with Luke Weil as the most memorable member of Johnson's rich kid group.
Cody Franchetti came out with scores of conceited quotes.
He described Bill Clinton's suit choice as 'vulgar' and claimed he didn't feel guilty about his fortune: 'I find guilt (over wealth) absolutely senseless. It's basically for old women and nuns.'
The sometime model, who brought his own imported bread to posh restaurants wrapped in aluminum foil, was at the time striving to soak up as much culture as he could, believing that this was the duty of an aristocrat such as himself.
European: European textile heir, Cody Franchetti, pictured, was one of the least likeable members of Johnson's cast
Cultured: Franchetti, pictured in the film, shows off his collection of old telephones
But he described a unique dilemma he often found in his pursuits: 'I'm reading a book and I'm thinking about p***y, but I find when I get the p***y, I'm thinking about the book.'
While others were unhappy with the film, 'Born Rich' whet Franchetti's appetite for showcasing himself to the world.
Immediately after its release, he hired a publicist from power agency PMK and began promoting himself. He had resolved to make himself a reality TV star.
'(New York) is a place of display, therefore you display yourself,' he said in a 2007 New York Observer interview.
Along the way, he received - and rejected - an offer to star on The Bachelor, and snared a cameo as one of Lisa Loeb's dates on her 2006 reality show, #1 Single.
He took the one-hit songstress on a chauffeured drive in a '41 Buick limousine but said that no numbers were exchanged.
He initially pitched a TV show with an 'aristocratic eye for the common guy' premise. Prime networks and cable channels passed.
West Village: Cody Franchetti, pictured left in 2005, recently sold a spacious apartment in a spacious pre-war building in the West Village, right
Academic: Cody Franchetti, pictured in New York in September 16, 2011, has spent his time on 'academic endeavors' he told MailOnline this month, after his reality TV career failed to take off
He then suggested a series about his attempt to buy fame, which was also never made.
He said he was well aware that reality TV in its very nature was at odds with aristocratic behavior.
'Yes, absolutely, (it's) cheap, trashy - I'm well aware of that,' Franchetti told The Observer.
He added: 'I want to be reduced. I would like to be a teenage heartthrob, I want to be on the tabloid, I want to be reduced to shit. But I don’t identify myself with that. I don’t have an identity problem. I know who I am.'
Come 2013, it appears the now-38-year-old's dreams were left unfulfilled.
He has instead spent his time on 'academic endeavors' he told MailOnline this month, refusing to comment further.
On his website, a glowing reference from the dean of students at Columbia boasts of Franchetti's 'sublime mind' as a historian and his online CV lists a bachelor's degree in music and a masters from Columbia in modern European studies.
The bachelor, who sold his stunning pre-war apartment in the West Village for $1.287,500 in 2010, is also the author of a handful of published works on history and literature.
GEORGINA BLOOMBERG
Georgina Bloomberg, the younger of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's two daughters, appeared in 'Born Rich' briefly.
Just 20 years old, Johnson followed Bloomberg as she introduced her horses at the stable. She was keen to differentiate herself, not be defined by her family or be pressured into acting a certain way because of who she was.
'Having the last name Bloomberg sucks,' she said.
At the stable: Just 20-years-old, Bloomberg showed Johnson around her stable in the 2003 documentary. She was keen to differentiate herself and not be defined by her family name
With a net worth of around $18 billion, Mr Bloomberg, 71, has indulged his daughter's passion for equestrian and paid for at least six horses, which she keeps on estates in North Salem, New York, and Wellington, Florida, where both her parents, who are divorced, own homes.
But Bloomberg, who was ranked fourth on Forbes' 2007 list of most intriguing billionaire heiresses, has shown herself to be a talented equestrian.
She qualified as a show jumper in the 2008 Olympics - only to be thwarted when her horse got injured, and has won numerous other trophies.
She is also a philanthropist like her father, creating The Rider's Closet in 2006, a charity that provides donated riding clothes to therapeutic riding programs and pony clubs.
Family: Georgina Bloomberg, pictured right this year, and her boyfriend Ramiro Quintana, pictured left, are due to have a son in December
However, the animal rights activist has on occasion embarrassed her business-minded dad.
As recently as this June, Bloomberg slammed the poor conditions of the carriage horses that cart tourists around Central Park, a tradition the Mayor has defended. She also criticized the city's record in the welfare of other animals.
'The government doesn't care about animals,' she told the Wall Street Journal.
After relationships with fellow show jumper Cian O'Connor and speed skater Joey Cheek, she announced in June this year that she's expecting a son with her current boyfriend Argentine equestrian Ramiro Quintana in December.
She said she had no plans to wed her baby's father, whom she lives with in New York.
No wedding bells but yachts of fun: Bloomberg, right, said she had no plans to wed her baby's father, Quintana, pictured left, whom she lives with in New York
She said at a party earlier this year: 'I live with my boyfriend, but I never want to get married. I've always been non-traditional.'
She added that Mayor Bloomberg was okay with her choice.
'My father hasn't pressured me to get married,' she explained. 'He respects my decision.'
Her family has a lavish property portfolio including a townhouse on the Upper East Side, a $20 million newly-acquired Southampton mansion, neighboring waterfront homes in Bermuda and the properties in Florida.
Bloomberg, who did not respond to MailOnline's request for an interview, has said she plans to move to Florida when the baby arrives.
The couple already have a pony for their unborn son.
JOSIAH HORNBLOWER
Despite outlining in detail his immense trust fund wealth, 'I'm a multimillionaire. I have an income in the high six figures minimum per year and then I make roughly $50,000 from my current job,' Vanderbilt descendant and Whitney heir Josiah Hornblower was one of the most humble subjects of Johnson's 2003 documentary.
He describes how his father, Jonathon Hornblower, brought him and his siblings up 'telling us we were poor.' But he admits he thought having a family museum was 'normal.'
'Growing up everything just seems normal. You go to a museum and you say "yeah that's me, that's my museum, don't you have a family museum?"' he says.
Humble: Vanderbilt descendant and Whitney heir Josiah Hornblower, pictured in Johnson's 2003 documentary, was one of the more humble subjects
However, the moment he learned, on his 18th birthday, that he now was a millionaire, he was blown away.
His parents came to his boarding school to deliver the news and have him sign the paperwork, he explains in the film.
'That's kind of hard to accept when you're a kid and you haven't done anything yet,' he says.
'While you have other friends who don't have anything, just their little checking accounts from their summer jobs.'
Hornblower went on to marry Jocelyn Wright Hunter, a daughter of Carole and Andrew Hunter III of Minnesota, on September 8, 2007 in Minnesota.
Married: Hornblower, left, married Jocelyn Wright Hunter, right, a daughter of Carole and Andrew Hunter III of Minnesota, on September 8, 2007
Hunter was a junior manager at Intuit, a software company in Mountain View, California at the time, having graduated from Middlebury and received an M.B.A. from Stanford.
By 2007, Hornblower was a portfolio manager in the San Francisco office of Resource Financial Institutions Group in New York, which manages investment funds focused on financial services.
In May 2012, Hornblower joined Capital Pacific Bancorp's board of directors. He is also co-founder and managing member of Blue Pine Partners, a private investment firm.
The couple, who have two small children, have a multimillion dollar home in Atherton, California and another property in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Hornblower did not respond to MailOnline's request for comment.
S.I. NEWHOUSE IV
Heir to the Condé Nast publishing fortune, Si Newhouse IV boasts in the film that his family is worth in excess of $20 billion. Later, he admitted that, because it's a public company, he doesn't actually know the value.
A slightly acne-ridden Newhouse comes across as perhaps the most tormented of the documentary, and is quite candid about his less-than-perfect relationship with his father, Samuel Irving Newhouse Junior.
After listing off the myriad magazines published by his family's company - Vogue, GQ and Condé Nast Traveler to name but a few - he takes Johnson on a tour of his apartment at Haverford College, Pennsylvania, where he was studying at the time.
Fencing enthusiast: Heir to the Condé Nast publishing fortune, Si Newhouse IV, pictured in the film after a fencing match, boasts that his family is worth in excess of $20 billion
'A lot of people ask me why do I stay here on campus. I do have a place in the city, my father's place. But it's not fun to go there. I feel aghast in my own home,' he says. 'So I stay here (at college) and I made this place my own.'
He admits the accommodation is a far cry from the opulence of the city pad 'but it's where I feel safe and feel in control of things,' he says.
The fencing enthusiast insists in the film he had to work for the keys to the family safe.
'In any other family you would think would lay a lot of pressure on my shoulders you know "you're the oldest, you're the namesake" but it doesn't work that way in my family, you've got to earn your way. If you don't go to school at least somewhat and if you don't work with the family and put in your time you don't get shit,' he explains.
Marriage: Si Newhouse IV, pictured right in 2007, tied the knot with Sheila Bhashyam, left, an NYU graduate five years his senior, in 2009
He also reveals he is constantly worried his grandfather will cut him off from the Condé Nast cash.
'I'm paranoid all the time that the next fax or phone call from my grandfather will be "I'm really disappointed in you, you wore the wrong pair of shoes the other day so you're on your own. Have fun." Sure, big time, it scares the hell out of me.'
Newhouse declares in the film that he wants to get a PHD and 'thumb my nose up at my family' and adds that he believes being rich gives people more drive 'because of revenge.'
It's not clear whether he attained the PHD in the intervening decade, but he appears to have 'put the time in' at Condé Nast to ensure he remains part of the family empire.
As of May 2009, he was marketing manager for the digital business group at Condé Nast.
Previous home: Last year, the couple sold their trendy TriBeCa loft, pictured, for $2.7 million, having bagged the three-bedroom, 2.5-bath for $2.4 million after their wedding
That year, the then-30-year-old tied the knot with Sheila Bhashyam, an NYU graduate five years his senior. His bride has a master's degree in global affairs. Getting married during the recession when Condé Nast was shedding staff, the couple registered for gifts at Macy's - something that was mocked at the time.
Last year, the couple sold their trendy TriBeCa loft for $2.7 million, having bagged the three-bedroom, 2.5-bath for $2.4 million after their wedding. It's not clear where they moved.
While others bashed the documentary, Newhouse stuck by his pal Johnson. In a New York Times interview he said that if people came off badly in the film they only had themselves to blame. 'I was pretty shocked by what some of the other kids had to say,' he said.
He refused to be interviewed for this article.
CARLO VON ZEITSCHEL
The long-haired great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II is seen in the film smoking cigarettes and explaining the difference between old money and new money. Von Zeitschel, at the same time a German baron and an Italian viscount, makes clear he is from the former category.
'Hundreds of years ago you were either related to a royal family or someone in your family in the middle ages clubbed someone on the head and the king made you a baron or a duke or whatever... and the families progressed,' he says.
Another famous line, delivered in his heavy European accent, refers to his bachelor lifestyle and the fact a pre-nuptial agreement would be a must if he were to settle down.
Old money: Carlo Von Zeitschel, pictured in 'Born Rich', is the great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II and explains in the film the difference between old money and new money
'I have no intention of being loyal to any woman at any time soon, not that I probably ever will be,' he says. '(But) one day I will fall in love and get married and probably get divorced a couple of years later and have a serious pre-nup before...'
Around the time 'Born Rich' was released, Von Zeitschel was finishing up a bachelor's degree in international relations and political economy at Brown.
After a brief stint as an M&A analyst at Morgan Stanley in Milan, Italy, he found his calling, by chance, in the art world.
Art dealer: After a brief stint as an M&A analyst at Morgan Stanley in Milan, Italy, Von Zeitschel, pictured in January 2013, found his calling in the art world
While looking for work back in New York, he started helping out a private art dealer who was a friend of a friend. That's when he decided to follow the same path, he said in a 2008 interview.
He launched his own gallery, named after himself, CVZ Contemporary, in Manhattan in September 2004. The Soho gallery, which boasts of launching the careers of international young and emerging artists, is apparently still open though the last exhibit listed on the website finished December 2011.
The European also did a stint at London Gallery Gazelli Art House in 2011, according to his Facebook page.
These days: Von Zeitschel, pictured left in September 2009, has a loft in NoHo, right
Von Zeitschel, who was a freshman in college and fairly new to America when he starred in 'Born Rich' also threatened to sue Johnson for his portrayal but didn't file unlike Luke Weil.
In the 2008 interview, Von Zeitschel, now 31 and living in a loft in NoHo, claimed he was encouraged to participate in the film under false pretenses.
'I was under the impression it was a project for school. Little did I know it would wind up on national television,' he said. Though he claims it is all 'water under the bridge' now and his friends always knew the real him.
Von Zeitschel did not respond to MailOnline's request for comment.
JULIET HARTFORD
In her early 30s when she was filmed, Juliet Hartford, heiress to the A&P chain of supermarkets, was noticeably older than the film's other subjects.
Her most memorable quote was her response to Johnson's question about what she'd do with a million dollars.
'Give it all to the homeless, just kidding,' she says, breaking into booming laughter. 'I'd just have a few houses in like the Bahamas and London, and animals and a plane. A big art studio.'
A&P: At 35, Juliet Hartford, pictured in the film, heiress to the A&P chain of supermarkets, was noticibly older than the other subjects
An artist and part-time model, she showed Johnson around her studio where she painted portraits for rich friends including Alexandra Von Furstenberg and Barry Diller. Experimental in her methods, she liked to work with magic markers.
Her father, Huntingon Hartford III, who she explains in the documentary squandered the family's fortune, never paid her much attention as a child. When she was at school, she lived for three years in Manhattan's Carlyle hotel where her father 'didn't come downstairs, or he'd come down for half an hour.'
However, a year after the film, Huntingon became ill, which ended up being the catalyst for the father and daughter to develop the relationship that previously eluded them.
Modern: An artist and part-time model, Hartford showed Johnson around her studio where she painted portraits for rich friends and used magic markers
At his request, she took him by private plane to the Bahamas, in a bid to nurse him back to health.
For the last few years of his life in the house in Lyford Cay, Juliet cared for her father. She shopped for his favorite foods, cooked his meals and fed him, because he refused to eat if anyone else tried to, she told Vanity Fair in 2004.
Together, the pair spent their days riding in golf carts and receiving the visitors Juliet lined up to keep her father company, including Sean Connery.
'I have never been happier in my life,' she said in 2004.
Model: On her website, the now-45-year-old heiress has photo after photo of her as a child, with her father, at the beach, at ski resorts as well as modelling shots, pictured
Four years later, Hartford announced that her father had passed away.
In the Vanity Fair article, the Hartford fortune was estimated at $11 million - a far cry from the estimated $2 billion Huntington once had.
It's not clear what was left for Juliet when her father died or what she has done in the past five years.
On her website, the now-45-year-old heiress has photo after photo of her as a child, with her father, at the beach, at ski resorts.
Hartford did not respond to MailOnline's request for comment.
JAMIE JOHNSON
And then there was the filmmaker himself.
Troubled by his inherited wealth and moved to question why it was taboo for rich people to talk about money, Jamie Johnson quizzed his friends about the subject, opening a dialogue.
In the film, he explains three generations of his family were all 'Born Rich' after his great-grandfather founded the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company, making an unimaginable fortune.
He says he has no clue how the pharmaceutical giant is run today as 'none of my relatives have worked there since my grandfather's generation.' Unlikely to buck that trend, he's searching for a different purpose in his privileged life in the film.
'Like my dad, I'll never need to work so I want to ask him what I should do in my life,' he says in the documentary.
Troubled: Troubled by his inherited wealth and moved to question why it was taboo for rich people to talk about money, Jamie Johnson, left, quizzed his friends about the subject for his documentary 'Born Rich'
Controversial: In addition to being sued by Weil, and threatened legal action by Von Zeitchel, Johnson's father didn't speak to him for months after the documentary was released
His dad, James Loring Johnson, responds: 'After graduation, you might be interested in graduate school, further studies. Building a collection of historic documents, papers, publications...'
The younger heir wasn't convinced.
In addition to being sued by Weil, and threatened legal action by Von Zeitschel, Johnson's father didn't speak to him for months after the documentary was released. He had requested not to be included, but Johnson included him anyway.
The controversial documentary also rocked the young man's inner sanctum.
He said in a New York Times interview around the time of the release: 'There are no more engraved invitations to debutante parties for girls I don't know with, like, five middle names. I guess I used to be considered an eligible bachelor. But not anymore.'
The film, however, was lauded by the critics.
'Born Rich' was snapped up by HBO and nominated for two Emmy Awards including 'Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming' for the director and 'Outstanding Nonfiction Special' for the producers.
The success spurred Johnson on to create another film on a similar subject.
Hit film: 'Born Rich' was snapped up by HBO and the network threw a party in July 2003 to celebrate its release. Johnson is pictured center with HBO executive vice president of original programming Sheila Nevins, second from left, and subjects Si, Ivanka and Josiah
'The One Percent,' an 80-minute feature discussing the challenges America faces as a society in which one percent of the people control nearly half the total wealth, premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2006.
It featured Robert Reich, Bill Gates Sr., Milton Friedman, and other magnates, contrasted with residents of Chicago's Cabrini–Green housing project and Hurricane Katrina victims.
After his second film he had a weekly online column for Vanity Fair from 2008 to 2011 entitled 'The One Percent,' where he pondered the perspectives and practices of the wealthy.
He also had a cameo role in Gossip Girl and launched a men's clothing line called Black Sweater, where a trench coat costs $2,500 and a trademark black sweater costs $695.
Lately, he's been working on fictional movie projects made in a documentary style.
Johnson disputes claims he misled any of his friends when asking them to participate in 'Born Rich.'
Regrets: A decade on, Johnson, pictured left in 2011 and right in 2006, admits he would have done some things in the film differently
Looking older: Jamie Johnson, pictured in New York on October 18 this year, is now working on fictional films made in a documentary style
'I don't think anyone involved with the film was under the impression it was a school project - they all signed release forms explaining that the film was being represented by an entertainment lawyer in LA,' he told MailOnline this month.
But, a decade on, he admits he would have done some things differently.
'I have a few regrets looking back,' he said. 'I would have liked to have spent more time with each subject in the film, creating a more nuanced portrait of each of their lives.'
However, the now-34-year-old bachelor said he was too young to accomplish that. '(I) didn't have the social skills or know how to do that efficiently as a filmmaker in a 70 minute movie at that time.'
He said 'Born Rich' was controversial because, back then, there weren't any shows about wealth and celebrity on television.
'Today, it's an entire genre - it saturates cable TV,' he said. 'So it seemed more novel and it seemed to provoke a kind of conversation that was previously off limits. And the people who participated were participating in earnest.
'Now, in the current landscape of what you see on TV, it's hard to imagine the original purpose and impact of the movie.'
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