Miramax Films

Miramax Film Corp.
Industry Film
Founded 1979
Founder(s) Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein
Website http://www.miramax.com

Miramax Films[1] is an art-house/independent film production company that both produced and distributed films including foreign films over its 31-year history. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein. In 1993 the company was acquired by The Walt Disney Company which operated it as a division of the Disney Company after the founders left.

Founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein and headquartered in New York City and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Miramax was a leading independent film motion picture distribution and production company before it was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 1993. The Weinsteins operated Miramax with more creative and financial independence than any other division of Disney, until 2005 when they decided to leave the company and founded The Weinstein Company.

Contents

History

Founded by the brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein in Buffalo, New York in 1979, the company was named by combining the first names of their parents Max and Miriam,[2] and was originally created to distribute independent films deemed commercially unfeasible by the major studios.

The company's first major success came when the Weinsteins teamed up with British producer Martin Lewis and acquired the U.S. rights to two concert films Lewis had produced of benefit shows for human rights organization Amnesty International. The Weinsteins worked with Lewis to distill the two films into one film for the US marketplace. The resulting film The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (US Version) was a successful release for Miramax in the summer of 1982. This release presaged a modus operandi that the company would undertake later in the 1980s of acquiring films from international filmmakers and reworking them to suit US sensibilities.

Among the company's other breakthrough films as distributors in the late 1980s and early 1990s were Scandal, sex, lies, and videotape, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, The Crying Game and Clerks. The company also made films such as Pulp Fiction, Heavenly Creatures and Shakespeare in Love.

In addition to those successes, Miramax acquired and/or produced many films that did extraordinarily well financially. The company became one of the leaders of the independent film boom of the 1990s. Miramax produced or distributed seven films with box office grosses totalling more than $100 million; its most successful title, Chicago, earned more than $300 million worldwide.[3]

The company was also exceptionally successful in securing Academy Award nominations for its releases and a large number of the nominations resulted in Oscar wins.

In 1992, Miramax began a deal with Paramount Pictures for VHS and TV distribution of certain Miramax releases. Paramount would also distribute theatrically certain releases that might have commercial appeal (such as Bob Roberts, though video rights to that film were owned by Live Entertainment - which is now Lions Gate Entertainment). Paramount still owns video rights to some of these films today, while TV distribution is now with Trifecta Entertainment & Media.[4]

In 1993 Miramax was purchased for $80 million by The Walt Disney Company.[2] Harvey and Bob Weinstein continued to operate Miramax until they left the company on September 30, 2005. During their tenure, the Weinstein brothers ran Miramax independently of other Disney companies. Disney, however, had the final say on what Miramax could release (see Fahrenheit 9/11, Kids and Dogma, for examples). Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment division releases Miramax output.

Miramax operated, until 2005, the label Dimension Films, specializing in genre films and created the Spy Kids, Scream and Scary Movie film franchises.

After the acquisition by Disney, the Weinsteins started to have problems with Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, on creative and financial matters. Eisner was reluctant to give as much creative freedom and financial support for the Weinsteins, who over the years increased the budget for their productions. Disagreements between the two sides came to the point that negotiations to extend the contract with the Weinsteins in Miramax ended in failure.

After extensive negotiations and much media and industry speculation, on March 30, 2005, Disney and the Weinsteins announced that they would not renew their contractual relationship when their existing agreements expired at the end of September 2005. The primary source of dispute was over distribution of Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore.[2] Disney's film studio consortium, Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group assumed control of Miramax, which was projected to have a smaller annual production budget. The Weinsteins started a new film production company called simply The Weinstein Company,[2] and took the Dimension Films label with them. The Miramax name remained with the film studio owned by Disney. Production at Miramax was taken over by Daniel Battsek,[2] who formerly was head of Buena Vista International in the UK. Battsek refocused Miramax to produce films of high quality but low budget. Maple Pictures now hold the rights to distribute Miramax films in Canada in 2008.

Shake up and sale

On October 3, 2009, Disney announced that the staff of Miramax was to be reduced by 70%, and the number of releases would be reduced by half to just three films per year. The label's marketing, distribution and administrative functions, which had operated independently, would be folded into the parent studio in Burbank. The move became effective in January 2010.[5][6] In October 30, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced the resignation of Daniel Battsek as President of Miramax Films, effective when the transition from the studio in New York to Burbank was completed.[7] The company has merged its operation with Walt Disney Studios in January 28, 2010 shutting down Miramax's separate New York and Los Angeles offices.[2][8]

Dick Cook, former Disney Studio Chairman wanted to keep Miramax[9] but resigned, with most likely new Disney Studio Chairman (Rich Ross) deciding on selling Miramax. Bob Iger said on a conference call that when questioned about possible Miramax sale, "We determined that continuing to invest in new Miramax movies wasn't necessarily a core strategy of ours".[10]

Several companies indicated an interest in purchasing Miramax including Destination Films, Summit Entertainment, and Qualia Capital, Amir Malin's investment fund. Bob and Harvey Weinstein also took an interest in buying back Miramax.

Criticism

Miramax has come under criticism for its editing, dubbing, and replacing the soundtracks of various foreign films it releases. One notable example is Iron Monkey, which though released subtitled, had its subtitles altered to remove the political context of the story, had scenes trimmed and changed for violence and pacing, and had the soundtrack changed, removing the famous Wong Fei Hung theme. Other films that they have altered in this way include Shaolin Soccer, Farewell My Concubine (theatrical release), The Thief and the Cobbler, The Horseman on the Roof and Jet Li's Fist of Legend.

Peter Biskind's book Down and Dirty Pictures details many of Weinstein's dealings with filmmakers.

Under the Weinsteins, Miramax had a history of buying the rights to Asian films, only to sit on them without releasing them for some years. One example of this is Hero, a 2002 Chinese martial arts film. It languished in Miramax's vaults for two years before it was salvaged with the intervention of Quentin Tarantino. And sometimes Miramax purchased films only to never release them. An example of this is Tears of the Black Tiger, a Thai film. After changing the ending of the film, Tears of the Black Tiger sat in Miramax's vaults for five years until its rights were purchased by Magnolia Pictures in 2006.

Studio Ghibli's "no cuts" policy was highlighted when Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein suggested editing Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable. In response, a Studio Ghibli producer sent an authentic katana with a simple message: "No cuts".

One reason for the delays and non-releases of films was an accounting scheme the Weinsteins used to shift potential money-losing films to future fiscal years and ensure they would receive annual bonuses from Disney,[11] while trying to bar retailers from legally exporting authentic DVDs of the films.[12]

As a result of the Weinsteins' actions, a number of Asian producers who sold their distribution rights to the company refuse to do so for their subsequent films.

"I'm not cutting for fun", Harvey Weinstein said in an interview. "I'm cutting for the shit to work. All my life I served one master: the film. I love movies."[13]

Miramax has been criticized by many Christian groups for what they say is the obscene content of many of its films. Groups such as the American Family Association have organized boycotts of Miramax and former coorperate parent Disney for including offensive and explicit content in films such as Priest and Kids.

Miramax is also accused of ignoring their more artistic, less audience-friendly films, especially when directors refuse to re-cut them to make them less challenging. Dead Man, which director Jim Jarmusch refused to re-cut, got a very limited release and critics have accused the Weinsteins of burying the film. Tarantino, among other directors working with Miramax, have happily re-cut their films to the Weinsteins' liking.[14][15]

Miramax Family

Miramax Family (also known as Miramax Family Films) was the family division of Miramax Films created in 1991 and shut down in 2006. Some films distributed by them are:

List of Miramax films

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Last reel for Miramax as Disney closes studio
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Miramax offices close, Disney says brand continues". Lowell Sun. Associated Press. 2010-01-29. http://www.lowellsun.com/movies/ci_14294787. 
  3. ↑ Chicago (2002)
  4. ↑ "Miramax Deal On Distribution". The New York Times. 1992-02-06. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DB1139F935A35751C0A964958260. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
  5. ↑ . story Disney to slash Miramax Films staff to 20, reduce releases to 3 a year
  6. ↑ http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jjSQMkAmK-lCcruC5tFMeKDra_RA
  7. ↑ Daniel Battsek stepping down as President of Miramax
  8. ↑ Waxman, Sharon (2010-01-27). "Miramax Dies: Rest in Peace". The Wrap, Inc.. http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/rip-miramax-13606. Retrieved 2010-02-08. 
  9. ↑ Rich Ross reshapes Disney film studios
  10. ↑ http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9DOVUU80
  11. ↑ Epstein, Edward Jay (2005-10-10). "The great illusionist". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2127757/?nav=tap3. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
  12. ↑ Studio Warns Kung Fu Site
  13. ↑ Mason, Ian Garrick (2004-10-11). "When Harvey met Mickey". New Statesman. http://www3.sympatico.ca/ian.g.mason/Harvey_Weinstein.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
  14. ↑ jim-jarmusch.net
  15. ↑ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (2008). Dead Man. BFI Modern Classics. BFI. ISBN 0851708064. 

External links