I first met Sumner Redstone in 1996 when I was working with Robert Evans and we were at Paramount. We had a producing deal, and we were up for renewal.
Bob asked me to come to The Palm to meet Sumner. My first impression was that he was very stoic and very, very powerful. He looked me in the eye and said, “You’re going to have a steak.” And I said, “I’m not really that hungry.” And he goes, “I’m ordering you a steak, and you’re going to eat it.” I was like, “OK.” I couldn’t say no to that.
And I pitched him what our slate looked like. He was very excited about it, said, “Great. Let’s keep moving.” And from that point on, Sumner was a very, very big supporter of Bob and me and the company.
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