This is an episode of Inside the Tent, a podcast going behind the scenes of Campside’s award winning shows.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
On the surface, the modeling industry in the 80s was about parties and pretty clothes, but underneath the flash, there were drugs, sex, and violence. And Paul Fisher, a former straight-A student from the San Fernando Valley, rose to prominence amidst the turmoil.
After a chance encounter with an alleged mobster, Paul suddenly found himself with a million dollars in funding and the chance to start a modeling agency in New York City. The city was then embroiled in a “model war” between industry titans Eileen Ford and John Casablancas, and Paul tried to make his mark.
But even as Paul thrived in the party-heavy culture of the time, burning cash like a furnace, he came face to face with the darkest forces in the industry.
Vanessa and Anthony start by giving credit to film producer Rachel Winter (Dallas Buyers Club) who brought Paul Fisher to Campside to tell his unbelievable story.
Paul took the unusual step of truly opening up, telling wild stories about the modeling industry that make him look unsympathetic, to put it mildly.
And they tackle this confounding question: how do you end up rooting for someone you definitely shouldn’t root for? It starts with the surprising number of people willing to participate in the show, who give a sense of all the sides of Fisher, for better or worse.
And Vanessa discusses the goal of entertaining listeners without exploiting the characters in the story, many of whom were women preyed upon.
They finish up by wondering who is the Paul Fisher of today, in the world of influencers.
Listen to Inside the Tent on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Email us with questions or comments: questions@campsidemedia.com.
We hope to see you inside the tent again soon. Subscribe now for updates on all of Campside’s hit shows.
