Lansing Gets the Last Laugh
Luckily, Sherry Lansing can laugh at herself or Tuesday’s Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards would have been a bit awkward. When “The Devil Wears Prada” producer Karen Rosenfelt took the stage to present Lansing with the Paltrow Mentorship Award, she admitted that when first asked to hand over the kudo her response was, “not happening.” It wasn’t until she learned that one of the night’s sponsors, Maxmara, would provide her with a dress for the evening, that she changed her mind. Then, instead of gushing to the crowd about how wonderful Lansing was to work with, Rosenfelt said, “as I tell you about working with and for Sherry Lansing for 15 years, just remember that only three letters T.O.R. separate the word mentor from tormentor.” She then recalled how Lansing called her after seeing “The Devil Wears Prada” for the first time. “She told me how Meryl Streep’s superior acting and David Frankel’s astute direction prevented the character of Miranda from being too farcical because no one has a boss like Miranda Priestly. I then reminded Sherry of the staff meetings she would routinely call on Friday afternoons of three day weekends and of the Christmas Eve staff meeting.” But later, Rosenfelt followed award presenting protocol by praising the woman she calls “her mentor” saying, “do you think it was easy to work for someone who returned every phone call promptly? Handled intensely difficult meetings with utmost poise and who could be laser specific with creative solutions for troubled screenplays and cuts of films? During the course of every day I find myself asking how would Sherry handle this situation?” For this particular situation, a laughing Lansing took the stage graciously. “I was going to say thank you Karen for your kind words. But now I think I am just going to say thank you for your incredible insightful and funny introduction.”
