Jill Messick

Jill Messick
Born	Jill Laura Sobel (1967-07-27)July 27, 1967 Los Angeles,California, U.S.
Died	February 7, 2018(2018-02-07)(aged 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide
Occupation	Film producer
Spouse	Kevin Messick
Partner	Dan Schuck
Children	2
Family	James H. Nicholson(grandfather)

Jill Laura Sobel Messick(July 27, 1967 – February 7, 2018) was an American film producer. She worked as an executive producer on several films, includingShe's All That(1999),Frida(2002), andMean Girls(2004).

She was actressRose McGowan's manager in 1997 when McGowanalleged that she was rapedby producerHarvey Weinstein.After the Weinstein allegations became public in late 2017, McGowan was highly critical of Messick, and Weinstein's lawyer released a private email sent by Messick that contradicted McGowan's claims. The publicity surrounding the scandal led to onlinecyberbullyingdirected at her. Messick died bysuicidein February 2018. In a public statement, Messick's family said that she supported theMe Too movementand called her losscollateral damageof a "feeding frenzy",blaming Weinstein, McGowan, the media, and the public for her death.

Early life

Messick was the daughter of Michael Sobeland actress Laura Nicholson Sobel (1945–2015). Her maternal grandfather was film producerJames H. Nicholsonand she had a brother named Jan. After attendingSanta Barbara High School,where she was named homecoming princess,Messick graduated with a degree in communications from theUniversity of Southern California.

Career

She began her career at theGersh Agencyand later worked as a junior manager at Somers/Teitelbaum/David. She was director of development at Woods Entertainment from 1994 to 1996, working on films includingScream(1996) andTeaching Mrs. Tingle(1999), both distributed byDimension Films,a division ofMiramax Films.She also helped facilitate Miramax distributingM. Night Shyamalan'sWide Awake(1998).Shyamalan later said that "she helped fight for my second film to get made at Miramax. Really made me feel I had a big sister protecting me."In the late 1990s, she worked as a talent manager atAddis-Wechsler & Associates,where her clients includedChloe Sevignyand John Bloom. In November 1997, she was hired as vice-president of development by Miramax Films and tasked with "scouting writers and directors and bringing in material to the company." She reported directly to executive vice-president of productionMeryl Posterand was hired byCathy Konrad,who said that she had "a keen eye for spotting new talent."

At Miramax Messick helped bringShe's All That(1999) to the company within a month of her hiring,It eventually grossed $60 million. She worked on such films asBoys and Girls(2000),Frida(2002) and early development ofCinderella Man(2005). She also worked directly with Dimension Films and helped make multipicture deals with screenwriters R. Lee Fleming, Jr.,Andrew LoweryandAndrew Miller.In 2000, she was promoted to senior Vice-President of Production.She worked at Miramax until 2003. She later worked as an executive producer forLorne Michaels,Paramount PicturesandThe Weinstein Company.Her film credits includeGet Over It(2001),Mean Girls(2004),Hot Rod(2007),Baby Mama(2008), andMasterminds(2016).

Messick made a brief foray into television production with the short-lived NBC sitcomBad Judge(2014–15).She was married to producerKevin Messick,with whom she had two children.

Weinstein allegations

Messick was actressRose McGowan's talent manager in 1997 at the time when McGowan allegesHarvey Weinsteinraped her.In an October 2017 interview withThe New York Times,McGowan was highly critical of Messick's lack of support after the incident and the article suggests that Messick's job at Miramax was directly related to the aftermath.On January 30, 2018, Weinstein's attorney released a private email from Messick to Weinstein as a way to defend Weinstein.The email was sent months before the incident became publicly known and Messick's account of the incident was that McGowan told her that she consensually got into a hot tub with Weinstein and later regretted it.Messick's family later said that McGowan "never once used the word rape" when she told Messick about the incident.

McGowan's memoirBrave,also released on January 30, 2018, details the alleged assault and is highly critical of Messick. In a documentary series about McGowan on theE!network, titledCitizen Rose,produced byBunim/Murray Productionsand also airing on January 30, McGowan accused Messick of betrayal and of siding with Weinstein in exchange for her job at Miramax. After Weinstein's lawyers released Messick's email, McGowan claimed that Messick's statements had already been disproven by her former assistant Anne Woodward inThe New York Timesarticle.

The media and public attention had a negative impact on Messick. According toMandy StadtmillerinThe Daily Beast,the publicity led to onlinecyberbullyingafter "activists onTwitternamed, shamed and identified how Messick could be reached, with one even revealing Messick’s purposefully obscuredLinkedInprofile (she did not use her full name) and encouraging others to reach out to her and let her know what they really thought of her. "In 2021 Stadtmiller claimed thatDaily Beastentertainment editor Marlow Stern attempted to cancel the story, compelling Stadtmiller to go higher up for approval. Stadtmiller called it "an important part of the #MeToo narrative in its revelation of just how disposable some women are in the name of feminism."

A Messick family statement stated that she had suffered frombipolar disorderand that a "manic episode"in 2013 had affected her career. The statement also said:" Seeing her name in headlines again and again, as part of one person's attempt to gain more attention for her personal cause, along with Harvey's desperate attempt to vindicate himself, was devastating for her. It broke Jill. "

Death

Messick died by suicide in Los Angeles on February 7, 2018,one day after the third anniversary of her mother's death.The manner of her suicide was not announced.

After that, Messick's family issued a public statement that was critical of the media, Weinstein, and McGowan, as well as "our new culture of unlimited information sharing and a willingness to accept statement as fact. The speed of disseminating information has carried mistruths about Jill as a person, which she was unable and unwilling to challenge. She became collateral damage in an already horrific story." Her family defended Messick's decision to not publicly address McGowan's negative statements about her because of "fear of undermining the many individuals who came forward in truth. She opted not to add to the feeding frenzy, allowing her name and her reputation to be sullied despite having done nothing wrong." It also asserts that, contrary to McGowan's accusations, Messick (who supported theMe Too movement) "was the first person who stood up on Rose's behalf, and alerted her bosses to the horrific experience which Rose suffered" despite being a junior-level employee at that time.

McGowan paid tribute to Messick onInstagramwithout addressing her family's accusations.Messick was among the deceased memorialized at the90th Academy Awards.

Filmography

• 1999 –She's All That(co-executive producer)
• 2000 –Boys and Girls(executive producer)
• 2001 –Get Over It(executive producer)
• 2002 –Frida(executive producer)
• 2004 –Mean Girls(executive producer)
• 2007 –Hot Rod(executive producer)
• 2008 –Baby Mama(executive producer)
• 2014–2015 –Bad Judge,TV series(executive producer)
• 2016 –Masterminds(executive producer)
• 2025 –A Minecraft Movie(producer, posthumous credit)

External links

• Jill MessickatIMDb
• Jill MessickatAllMovie