Harvey_Weinstein

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein Education and early career Born in Flushing, New York, Weinstein and his younger brother, Bob Weinstein, grew up Jewish in New York City, residing in a housing co-op named Electchester. He attended and graduated from John Bowne High School, and then the State University of New York at Buffalo. He currently lives in Westport, Connecticut.[1] Weinstein, along with his brother Bob Weinstein, and Corky Burger independently produced rock concerts as Harvey & Corky Productions in Buffalo through most of the 1970s. Both Weinstein brothers had grown up with a passion for movies and they nurtured a desire to enter the film industry. In the late 1970s, using profits from their concert promotion business, the brothers created a small independent film distribution company called Miramax, named after their parents - Miriam and Max. The company’s first releases were primarily music-oriented concert films such as Paul McCartney’s Rockshow. In the early 1980s Miramax acquired the rights to two British films of benefit shows filmed for human rights organization Amnesty International. Working closely with Martin Lewis, the producer of the original films, the Weinstein brothers edited the two films into one movie tailored for the American market. The resulting film was released as The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball in May 1982 and it became Miramax’s first hit. The movie raised considerable sums for Amnesty International and was credited by Amnesty with having helped to raise its profile in the US.[1] Harvey Weinstein at Cannes, 2002. Born Occupation Spouse(s) March 19, 1952 (1952-03-19) Flushing, New York Studio head, producer, executive producer’ Eve Chilton (1986-2004) Georgina Chapman (2007-) Harvey Weinstein, CBE (Hon) (born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known for his 26-year career as co-founder of Miramax Films; he and his brother Bob have been cochairmen of The Weinstein Company, their new film production company, since 2005. Further development of Miramax The Weinsteins slowly built upon this success throughout the 1980s with arthouse films that achieved critical attention and modest commercial success. Harvey Weinstein and Miramax gained wider attention in 1988 with the release of Errol Morris’s documentary 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Thin Blue Line which detailed the struggle of Randall Adams, a wrongfully convicted inmate sentenced to death row. The publicity that soon surrounded the case resulted in the release of Adams and nationwide publicity for Miramax. The following year, their successful launch release of Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape propelled Miramax to become the most successful independent studio in America. Also in 1989, Miramax released two arthouse films, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and director Pedro Almodóvar’s film Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, both of which the MPAA rating board gave an X-rating, effectively stopping nationwide release for these films. Weinstein sued the MPAA over their rating system and while his lawsuit was thrown out, the MPAA agreed to introduce the new NC-17 rating following this episode. Miramax continued to grow its library of films and directors until, in 1993, after the success of The Crying Game, Disney offered Harvey and Bob $80 million for ownership of Miramax. Agreeing to the deal that would cement their Hollywood clout and ensure that they would remain at the head of their company, Miramax followed the next year with their first blockbuster, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and the indie favorite Clerks by Kevin Smith. Miramax won its first Best Picture Academy Award in 1996 with the victory of The English Patient. This started a string of critical successes that included Shakespeare in Love and Good Will Hunting. On March 29, 2005, it was announced that the Weinstein brothers would leave Miramax on September 30 to form their own production company, named The Weinstein Co. with several other media executives as well as, reportedly, directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Harvey Weinstein Weinstein has been criticized by some for the techniques he has allegedly applied in his business dealings. Peter Biskind’s book Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film[1] details criticism of Miramax’s release history on some Asian films that were apparently not of interest to other US distributors. Miramax purchased some Asian films including Shaolin Soccer and Hero that had been critical successes in Asia but had not been acquired for US distribution by any distributor until Miramax acquired them for US release. However the films did not receive immediate US release - upsetting some people. Shaolin Soccer specifically was redubbed into English (a very common occurrence for non-English films in the US) and the soundtrack was altered. On hearing that Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein would try to cut animator Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable for the mutual benefit of the studio and the film’s makers, one of Studio Ghibli’s producers sent an authentic katana with a simple message: "No cuts".[2] Another example cited by Biskind was The Quiet American, directed by Phillip Noyce. The film tested relatively well on September 10, 2001. After the September 11, 2001 attacks in a period where all US studios were examining their upcoming releases to ensure that they took account of the change in public climate, Weinstein allegedly held the film until testing it again on October. This time, the scores were much lower, possibly due to the critical tone of the film towards America’s past foreign policy. Noyce delivered the finished film in May 2002, but was allegedly unable to get a response from Weinstein. He elected to not screen the film at the Toronto International Film Festival until he was lobbied by star Michael Caine, who threatened to boycott publicity for another film he had made for Miramax. The movie was released in November but failed to find an audience. It was alleged that Miramax did not make a major effort to promote the film for Academy Award consideration, though Caine was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.[1] In a 2004 piece in New York magazine, Weinstein appeared somewhat repentant for his often aggressive discussions with directors and producers.[3] However, an October 13, 2008 Newsweek story criticized The Weinstein Company The new studio immediately garnered Academy Award nominations for Transamerica and Mrs. Henderson Presents, and box office success through Hoodwinked and Scary Movie 4. Criticism of Weinstein While lauded for opening up the independent film market and making it financially viable, 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Weinstein, who was accused of "hassling Sydney Pollack on his deathbed" about the release of the film The Reader. After Weinstein offered $1 million to charity if the accusation could be proven, journalist Nikki Finke published an August 22 email by Scott Rudin asserting that Weinstein "harassed" Anthony Minghella’s widow and a bedridden Pollack until Pollack’s family asked him to stop.[4][5] In April 2008, Weinstein, who supported Hillary Clinton’s campaign for President, allegedly threatened to withhold some of his extensive personal contributions to congressional Democrats unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi embraced his plan to finance re-votes in Florida and Michigan. Three officials familiar with the conversation say that Weinstein appeared determined to buy Clinton more time in her battle against Sen. Barack Obama by pushing for the re-vote. He tried to convince Pelosi to back off her previous comments that superdelegates should support the candidate who’s leading in pledged delegates in early June.[6] In February 2009, former Sam & Dave singer Sam Moore filed suit against Harvey and Bob Weinstein over the alleged use of Sam & Dave’s career as a model for Soul Men, a Weinstein Co. comedy starring Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson.[7] Harvey Weinstein Executive producer • Hardware (1990) • Strike it Rich (1990) • Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) • True Romance (1993) • The Hour of the Pig (1993) • Pulp Fiction (1994) • Il Postino (1994) • Kids (film) (1995) • Smoke (1995) • The Crossing Guard (1995) • The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995) • The English Patient (1996) • Scream (1996) • Jane Eyre (1996) • Good Will Hunting (1998) • Jackie Brown (1998) • The Cider House Rules (1999) • The Others (2001) • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) • Chicago (2002) • Equilibrium (2002) • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) • Cold Mountain (2003) • Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (2003/2004) • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) • The Aviator (2004) • Finding Neverland (2004) • Sin City (2005) • Clerks II (2006) • Grindhouse (2007) • The Mist (2007) • Sicko (2007) • Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007) • Awake (2007) • Superhero Movie (2008) • Rambo (2008) • The Reader (2008) • Untitled Marc Landry Project (2010) Depictions in media A character portrayed by Maury Chaykin on the HBO TV series Entourage is based on Weinstein. The character is portrayed as an intimidating tyrant producer. Weinstein himself has reportedly responded positively to the character.[8] References [1] ^ Biskind, Peter (2004). Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film. Simon & Schuster. pp. 463–464. ISBN 068486259x. http://www.simonsays.com/ content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=502917. [2] Brooks, Xan (2005-09-14). "A god among animators". The Guardian. http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/ interviewpages/0,6737,1569689,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-23. "There is a rumour that when Harvey Weinstein was charged with handling the US release of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki sent him a samurai sword in the post. Attached to Selected filmography This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. Producer • Shakespeare in Love (1998) • Gangs of New York (2002) Director • Playing for Keeps (1986) • The Gnomes’ Great Adventure (1987) 3 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the blade was a stark message: ’No cuts.’ / The director chortles. ’Actually, my producer did that.’" Seth Mnookin. "How Harvey Weinstein Survived His Midlife Crisis (For Now)" New York magazine; October 4, 2004 Newsweek; October 13, 2008; Page 10. Nikki Finke. "Harvey Weinstein’s Offer I Can’t Refuse..." deadlinehollywooddaily.com; September 29, 2008 "Sources: Clinton supporter pressures Pelosi" CNNpolitics.com; May 8, 2008 Wood, E. Thomas (2009-02-18). "’Soul Man’ sues filmmakers for depicting him". NashvillePost.com Retrieved on Harvey Weinstein 2009-02-18. http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/ 2009/2/18/ soul_man_sues_filmmakers_for_depicting_him. [8] Stone Martindale" HBO’s Entourage: Harvey Weinstein veritas" monstersandcritics.com July 13, 2007 • An article at nl80.cn that references Harvey Winstein’s Wikipedia article to improve its search results through the copytheft of original content by Kris Kowal [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] External links • Harvey Weinstein at the Internet Movie Database Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Weinstein" Categories: 1952 births, Living people, American businesspeople, American film producers, American film studio executives, American Jews, BAFTA winners (people), Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, People from Westport, Connecticut, University at Buffalo alumni, Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award, The Weinstein Company This page was last modified on 17 May 2009, at 09:37 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) 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