Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/749295
232 culturedmag.com PHOTOS BY FIROOZ ZAHEDI, BRIGITTE LACOMBE "I call myself a high-end hoarder," says Brett Ratner. "I have warehouses filled with memorabilia and art that I have been collecting over the years." With an estimated 10,000 pieces to his name, the celebrated filmmaker readied himself to part with 120 handpicked items in a sale that went live on November 21 with online auctioneer Paddle8. Benefiting the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance, the auction is live until December 6, and will be feted during Art Basel Miami Beach with a private party at Soho Beach House on November 30. "I am fascinated with people's collections. It's a weird thing that people die and everything they own gets sold," says Ratner, who began collecting comic books as a child before graduating to memorabilia from movies like Raging Bull and Raising Arizona, and items sourced from his own film sets, including Money Talks, Rush Hour and X-Men: The Last Stand. These days, Ratner's obsessions are as diverse as Frank Sinatra memorabilia (RatPac Entertainment, Ratner's production and financing company with James Packer, is located in the crooner's former headquarters on the Warner Bros. lot in Los Angeles), psychedelic art, and the works of contemporary L.A. street artist Shepard Fairey. The auction's connective throughline is Ratner's storied Hollywood home, Hilhaven Lodge. Designed in the 1920s, the property passed through the hands of Hollywood notables including actress Ingrid Bergman and director Richard Quine. In 2000, Ratner acquired the home and its contents after the death of Grease producer Allan Carr, who owned it from 1972 to 1999 and infused the house with '70s-era touches, from a Lucite piano to a basement discotheque lit with neon signs—several of which will be up for grabs. "It's all stuff I've lived with, which I don't mind sharing with the world," notes Ratner, whose latest producing credits include the Warren Beatty-directed Rules Don't Apply. Additional items expected to be included in the sale range from a portrait of Ratner by street artist Mr. Brainwash to a limited-edition Billionaires packaged doll series by pop artist The Sucklord. "The house has an identity of its own and whoever is in the house brings their persona to it," explains Ratner, who also partnered with Diageo to launch an award-winning whiskey inspired by the home ("The Hilhaven Lodge was built for parties. It was deserving of its own spirit, its own brand," he says). Other noteworthy auction items include photography from Ratner's personal collection as well as images he captured on his own camera over the years, such as a snapshot of legendary lensman Helmut Newton and studio executive Robert Evans taken on the eve of Newton's passing. No stranger to Paddle8, Ratner made his first purchase through the auction house during Art Basel Miami Beach last year—an African painting sold by a friend, art collector Jean Pigozzi. "As the consummate Hollywood polymath, I was stunned to see how well his collection spoke to his cultural identity and legacy," says Paddle8 co-founder Alexander Gilkes, who was introduced to the filmmaker by Pigozzi. "His home features major masterpieces of memorabilia, design, photography and 20th-century art, all with a provocative or movie focus." "I love what Paddle8 is doing. It's the future," notes Ratner. THE HOUSE THAT HOLLYWOOD BUILT Brett Ratner and online auctioneer Paddle8 team up for a sale inspired by the filmmaker's storied home, Hilhaven Lodge. BY LESLEY MCKENZIE Along with furnishings from Ratner's Hollywood estate, Hilhaven Lodge, the auction features art and memorabilia from the director's collection.