Today: More Hamptons tidbits, the bummer final act in a very interesting life, real talk about making money by directing great indie films, and a shopping cart full of sunscreen and pimple patches.

Emily Gould

The circumstances around her final years have long been the source of speculation. Friends say they lost regular contact with Christophe after she handed power of attorney to her daughter, Taya Thurman, and Taya’s son Maxwell Snow, Dash’s brother. In 2021, Alina Morini began to file court documents alleging Taya was responsible for keeping Christophe trapped in her apartment on East 81st Street and Fifth Avenue, surrounded by rotting food and inattentive caretakers. Taya, in her own filing, called Morini “a con-artist.” But friends of Christophe backed Morini’s claims in court. In an affidavit, William Middleton, who wrote Double Vision, the definitive biography of Christophe’s parents, John and Dominique de Menil, alleged Taya and Max also kept Christophe’s sister Adelaide apart from friends and fired longtime employees. “Their single-minded effort to get their hands on the fortunes of the two sisters [is among] the most shocking acts of elder abuse, family betrayal, and pure greed that I have ever witnessed,” Middleton wrote.

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If you see your film as a commodity, you will be disappointed, and you probably will not see money back. A lot of times, even people who sign with distributors don’t see much money back.

The perception of filmmaking is that it’s glamorous. We just had a film in SXSW that got really fantastic reviews. But then you come back to New York, and you have to find a way to make a living. I’ve made a lot of films that have played at the big American festivals, and some in Europe, and I still have never made money as a director. I have friends who’ve been nominated for Oscars and then have gone back to day jobs near the minimum wage. I think the secret that people don’t talk about is that a lot of people in independent films come from a huge amount of family money, so they probably don’t have to work and can focus on their films. That’s okay, but it’s certainly not my situation.

 At least Connor sat next to Madonna!