Obst detained with drug at Texas airport

HOUSTON — Lynda Obst, one of Hollywood’s most successful female movie producers, known for hits like “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993), “Contact” (1997) and this year’s “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” was detained Sunday after security screeners at a Texas airport discovered she had a small amount of marijuana.

Because the amount in question was less than an ounce, Obst faces being charged with a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

“When she checked in, apparently she was a random selectee,” said Jackie Mayo, spokeswoman for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. “She was given a plastic cover with an orange card, which lets the screeners know they are a selectee, meaning the bags they’re carrying are pulled.”

Obst, 53, had been scheduled to fly out of Austin on a Continental Airlines flight bound for Newark. After authorities booked her and took her mug shot, she waited in Travis County Jail for more than five hours before her $1,500 bail was posted, Mayo said.

It is up to the discretion of Travis County Atty. David Escamilla whether charges will be filed against Obst. “The big factors are previous criminal history and the amount of pot,” he said. Obst has no prior convictions. “These types of cases with no prior history would most likely be an informal probation for six months and charges wouldn’t even be filed.” An individual is not charged with felony possession of marijuana unless they are carrying at least 4 ounces of pot, Escamilla said.

A representative of her namesake L.A.-based production company declined to comment. And calls to Escamilla’s office and to Obst’s Austin attorney, Joe Turner, were not returned Thursday.

Obst also wrote the 1997 bestseller, “Hello, He Lied: And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches,” a guide to succeeding in the cutthroat entertainment industry. A Hollywood veteran, she is considered a pillar of the Austin film community.