"Born Rich" was selected for a noncompetition screening at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, where it was a hit. The film premiered at Sundance on January 19, 2003 in the "American Spectrum" category. Every seat at the screening was occupied and a couple dozen people were turned away. Sheila Nevins, executive vice president for original programming at HBO, decided to see the film at Sundance when she saw a line around the block for it. An edited version of the film was produced after it was acquired by HBO. In July 2003, it was promoted at the HBO presentation at the Television Critics Association convention in Los Angeles by Johnson and three film subjects.