PUBLISHING: ROBERT SILVERS
From the beginnings of The New York Review of Books in 1963, Silvers has had a knack for hiring assistants. After a few years at the School of Silvers, many have graduated into the upper tiers of the intelligentsia.
Jean Strouse
Assistant (1967–69).
Currently: Historian; director of the Cullman Center at the New York Public Library.
Sharon Delano
Assistant (1970–72).
Currently: Edits Annie Leibovitz’s book projects.
Deborah Eisenberg
Assistant (1973).
Currently: Short-story writer; MacArthur fellow.
Darryl Pinckney
Substitute assistant (1981); assistant to co-editor Barbara Epstein (1984–86).
Currently: Critic; essayist; author of the novel High Cotton.
Mark Danner
Assistant (1981–84).
Currently: Journalist; professor at Bard and UC–Berkeley; author of Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror.
A.O. ScottAssistant (late nineties).
Currently: Chief film critic for the New York Times.
Jon-Jon Goulian
Assistant (2001–3).
Currently: Awaiting publication of his memoir, The Man in the Gray Flannel Skirt (Random House, 2011), for which he received a $750,000 advance.
FILM: SCOTT RUDIN
The superproducer (No Country for Old Men, The Social Network) and famously difficult boss once admitted to churning through 119 assistants in a five-year period. For those who survived, a successful Hollywood career often awaited.
Beau Flynn
Assistant (1994-95)
Currently: CEO, Contrafilm (Journey to the Center of the Earth; The Exorcism of Emily Rose).
Mark Sourian
Assistant (1996).
Currently: Co-president of production, DreamWorks Studios.
Mark Roybal
Assistant (1996–99).
Currently: Newly hired president of production, Indian Paintbrush (The Fantastic Mr. Fox; The Darjeeling Limited).
Josh Greenstein
Assistant (1997–98).
Currently: Co-president of marketing, Paramount Pictures.
Ben Famiglietti
Assistant (1999–2001).
Currently: Senior vice-president of production and development, the Weinstein Company.
Lars Knudsen and Jay van Hoy
KNUDSEN: Intern (2000); assistant (2001–3). VAN HOY: Assistant (2000).
Currently: Producers, Parts and Labor (Lovely, Still; The Exploding Girl).
Adam Rosenberg
Assistant (2004).
Currently: Senior vice-president of production and development, Spyglass Entertainment.
FOOD: JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN
The chef has opened eleven restaurants here since 1991, all known for their exacting (and, Amy Sacco notwithstanding, male-dominated) kitchen culture. JGV alumni now run some of the city’s most freethinking eateries.
Amy Sacco
General manager of Vong and Lipstick Café (1992–95).
Currently: Owner of the on-hiatus Bungalow 8.
Josh Eden
Line cook at JoJo (1994); saucier and sous-chef at Jean Georges (1995–2000); chef de cuisine at JoJo (2002–3); executive chef at 66 (2003–2004).
Currently: Owner and chef of Shorty’s.32.
Wylie Dufresne
Tournant at JoJo (1994–97); saucier and sous-chef at Jean Georges (1997–98).
Currently: Owner and chef of wd~50.
Jehangir Mehta
Assistant pastry chef at Jean Georges (1997–98); pastry chef at Mercer Kitchen (1998–99).
Currently: Owner and chef at Graffiti and Mehtaphor.
Gabriel Kreuther
Chef de partie, executive sous-chef, and chef de cuisine at Jean Georges (1997–2002).
Currently: Executive chef at the Modern.
Christopher Lee
Saucier at Jean Georges (2001–2).
Currently: Executive chef at Aureole; owner of MC Restaurant Consultants.
Pichet Ong
Pastry chef at 66 (2003–5); pastry chef at Spice Market (2004–6).
Currently: Consulting chef at the Village Tart; pastry chef at Spot and the Bubble Lounge.
TV: DAVID CHASE
From 1999 to 2007, the creator of The Sopranos not only ushered in a new golden age of television but also spun résumé gold. Those who worked inside the Chase writing room are now responsible for a network’s worth of dramas.
Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green
Wrote 22 episodes of The Sopranos.
Currently: Co-creators of Blue Bloods, a new CBS cop drama starring Tom Selleck.
Terence Winter
Wrote 25 episodes of The Sopranos.
Currently: Creator of Boardwalk Empire, on HBO.
Todd A. Kessler
Wrote five episodes of The Sopranos.
Currently: Co-creator of FX’s Damages, now moving to DirecTV for its fourth season.
Matthew Weiner
Wrote twelve episodes of The Sopranos.
Currently: Creator of AMC’s Mad Men, now in its fourth season.
POLITICS: CHUCK SCHUMER
Since serving his first term in the State Assembly at 23, New York’s senior U.S. senator has populated more than a few government offices—and, in one case, movie sets—with his progeny.
Marisa Tomei
High-school intern (early eighties).
Currently: Actress.
Anthony Weiner
Congressional aide in Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn (1985–91).
Currently: U.S. congressman.
Josh Isay
Press secretary (1994–96); chief of staff (1996–2000).
Currently: Managing director of political-communications firm SKDKnickerbocker.
Howard Wolfson
Communications director for Senate campaign (1998).
Currently: New York City deputy mayor.
Michael Cusick
Director of constituent services (1999–2002).
Currently: New York State assemblyman.
Daniel Squadron
Special assistant (2003–5); co-author with Schumer of Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time (2006–7).
Currently: New York State senator.
Cynthia Bauerly
Legislative director (2005–7).
Currently: Federal election commissioner.
Preet Bharara
Chief counsel (2005–9).
Currently: U.S. attorney, Southern District of New York.
Reporting by Elien Becque, S. Holland Bivins, and Jillian Goodman