Irwin Winkler Quotes

Barbara De Fina said that Irwin Winkler was, and has been, “nothing but nasty” to her. She told the story of a party that Winkler and his wife, Margo, attended; on seeing Barbara, Margo said, “The two producers are here,” and Winkler responded with words to the effect that there was only one producer. (De Fina retains affection for Margo, whom she calls “lovely.”)

Irwin Winkler did not share the credit of “Producer.” He had the power to do that because he had control of the book’s movie rights. Barbara De Fina’s credit was changed to “Executive Producer.” Additionally, once CAA (Scorsese's talent agency) got into it, her profit participation points on the movie were decreased. Recounting the situation thirty years after the fact, De Fina fumes. 'Winkler just — I mean, I — and everyone else that had been working on it. And then he wasn’t even there. He visited the set a few times, got his picture taken in the director’s chair.'