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Borat has been out since November and has grossed more than $100 million. The DVD release must be in sight. So some attendees at Wednesday night's members-only screening for the Writers Guild — plus Q-and-A with Sacha Baron Cohen and the other writers — were put off by the paranoid level of security. WGA members were told at the door that all cell phones would be confiscated, so most had to return to their cars to drop off Treo's, Blackberry's and plain old Nokia's. Back inside, they were patted down and wanded as if they were boarding a plane. Writes one friend of a guest:
How strange, sad and troubling that a writer/producer trio who have made literally tens of millions of dollars more-or-less secretly (or at least deceptively) taping unsuspecting, average 'Joes' would demand that an audience of their peers be searched for recording devices. Is it just me, or is this not bizarre?
We'll see if anyone else reports in.