Pity the Hollywood mogul. Once, he was the star attraction at Wall Streeter Herbert Allen's yearly see-and-be-seen retreat in Sun Valley. But what's the point of even gassing up the Gulfstream V when the Internet boys are now the new happy campers? The film industry is buzzing -- and bitter -- about the just-mailed schedule for the July 6-10 confab. Bill Gates and bigwigs from Intel and AT&T will take turns at the mike. Apple chief Steve Jobs's boutique 'toon company, Pixar, is tinier than Universal's executive parking lot, yet he's delivering the lecture on Animation 101. (What's Daffy Duck's Warner Bros. -- chopped liver?) Yes, Sony will present, but will boast about everything except its lousy film business. The ultimate insult? Gone is the showbiz panel. This year's centerpiece is "The Internet and Our Lives," starring Amazon.com's Jeffrey Bezos, Priceline.com's Jay Walker, and Yahoo!'s Jerry Yang. What's the entertainment world coming to when AOL's Steve Case gets the best picnic table in the place?

Related:

• Archive: “Gotham: Life in the New City”
• Articles by Nikki Finke
• Table of Contents: June 21, 1999 issue of New York | Subscribe!