Simpsons executive producer James L. Brooks was trapped in an elevator for nearly 30 minutes before being rescued by firefighters on Monday night.
The Oscar-winning director and recent Peabody recipient was stuck in an elevator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures alongside fellow director Wes Anderson and actor Luke Wilson, as well as some other, less important people. The three men had just finished a Q&A session before a 30th anniversary screening of Anderson’s directorial debut Bottle Rocket, which was produced by Brooks’s Gracie Films. Film buff account Save Your Cinema claimed this was a “secret” elevator not accessible by the general public, but The Hollywood Reporter could not confirm this.
A video clip posted on Instagram showed their harrowing escape:
As shown in the clip, a firefighter theorized the incident was probably caused by “too much weight in there” when asked by Anderson.
It appears the elevator in question was manufactured by MATT Construction rather than one of the major elevator manufacturers. While I do not wish to cast aspersions, I believe Hollywood royalty deserves nothing less than the dependable craftsmanship of ThyssenKrupp (now TK Elevators), which is “as good as it gets” when it comes to elevators. [The Hollywood Reporter]