my portrait of isaac larian, CEO of MGA entertainment, toy mogul extraordinaire, is out this weekend in the wall street journal. this is actually the second time i’ve photographed isaac. the first was sixteen years prior for the london sunday telegraph review. when ronnie called with the assignment the name sounded naggingly familiar, and a quick dive through the archive of old 6x7 transparencies yielded a match. it’s very rare that i get to revisit a subject, and really appreciate the times that i do.
isaac is what you hope a toy company CEO would be. smart, focused, and business savvy, but incredibly personable and funny and comfortable being silly. from what i understand, he controls the largest privately owned toy company in the world. MGA is famous for its bratz dolls, and i couldn’t help but notice in their offices that they also own the cozy coupe, which has sold more units than most real life cars. in fact, there’s one sitting in my driveway right now.
when i left his office, isaac had arranged a care package for my four year old son. a pile of toys, including a remote control car. it was a good day.
