- Title: How Harvey Weinstein transformed independent films and the Oscars
- Date: 3rd January 2020
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT - DECEMBER 20, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) VARIETY MAGAZINE FILM AND MEDIA EXECUTIVE EDITOR BRENT LANG, SAYING: "So after the late 80s, basically what Weinstein's able to do is he's part of this new wave of independent film that comes in and really changes Hollywood. And as studios start to sort of move towards more franchise types of things, more sequels, more big budget movies, movies with international appeal, he comes in and sort of fills a void because those sort of mid-budget movies, dramas, comedies, things like that that don't have that kind of global appeal aren't being made as much by studios. So companies like Miramax are able to fill that void."
- Embargoed: 17th January 2020 18:25
- Keywords: #metoo Bob Weinstein Brent Lang Harvey Weinstein Pulp Fiction independent films rape sexual harassment sexual misconduct
- Location: ANTIBES + CANNES + MOUGINS, FRANCE / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / BEVERLY HILLS + LOS ANGELES + HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA + NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / VENICE, ITALY / INTERNET
- City: ANTIBES + CANNES + MOUGINS, FRANCE / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / BEVERLY HILLS + LOS ANGELES + HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA + NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / VENICE, ITALY / INTERNET
- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA005BUMBEIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Successful films such as "Shakespeare in Love," "Pulp Fiction," "Sex, Lies and Videotape," "The Crying Game" and "The King's Speech" helped to make Harvey Weinstein one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. Before being accused by more than 80 women of sexual misconduct, Weinstein transformed independent film and the way some Oscars are awarded.
Weinstein's Hollywood movie career was born out of the music business. He and his brother Bob Weinstein got their start in the concert promotion world, branching out to concert films and ultimately to independent arthouse movies.
In 1979, Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded the independent film distribution and production company Miramax, naming it after their parents, Miriam and Max.
"One of their big first movies was "The Thin Blue Line", this very influential Errol Morris documentary that helped get a wrongly convicted man off of death row. And then their big success was "Sex, Lies and Videotape", which came out in 1989. It stormed the Sundance Film Festival, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, ended up making about 37 million dollars on a budget of less than two million dollars," said Variety Magazine Film And Media Executive Editor Brent Lang.
"So kind of this astounding commercial breakthrough for the arthouse film," added Lang.
Weinstein's win in Cannes earned him tremendous power.
"After the late 80s... he's part of this new wave of independent film that comes in and really changes Hollywood," said Lang. "As studios start to sort of move towards more franchise types of things, more sequels, more big budget movies, movies with international appeal, he comes in and sort of fills a void because those sort of mid-budget movies, dramas, comedies, things like that that don't have that kind of global appeal aren't being made as much by studios. So companies like Miramax are able to fill that void."
Weinstein's Miaramx produces a string of box office and critical successes.
"The Crying Game" in 1992 was a box office success. In 1994, "Pulp Fiction", the Quentin Tarantino film he produced, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes. In 1997, "The English Patient" won Miramax its first Academy Award for best picture.
"I think that what Harvey Weinstein did was he provided a financial underpinning, a business rationale for the independent film scene," Lang said.
By 1999, Miramax executives were able to use their power and money to influence the Oscars.
"They turn the idea of Oscar campaigning into not just a couple of screenings, but into a many months long kind of assault on Academy voters," described Lang. "And you see that kind of elevated into the race between "Shakespeare In Love" and "Saving Private Ryan", where Weinstein just blows the spending of the "Saving Private Ryan" team out of the water. And he's able to get an Oscar, a best picture Oscar for "Shakespeare In Love"."
In total, "Shakespeare in Love" won seven Oscars, including best actress for Gwyneth Paltrow.
In 2005, the Weinstein brothers left Miramax, which by then was owned by The Walt Disney Company, and formed The Weinstein Company.
The Weinstein Company won four Acadamy Awards, including best picture, for "The King's Speech" in 2011.
Weinstein's Hollywood success created a sort of mythical status for the movie mogul and earned him a reputation of being brash and confronational.
"I think a lot of people were really fearful of Harvey Weinstein. And he sort of relished that. He was definitely a crass person. He was definitely a bully. He sort of delighted in screaming at people," said Lang. "But he wasn't the only person who's like that."
A spokesperson for Weinstein told Reuters, "Harvey Weinstein as a producer and businessman is a perfectionist, and that at times animated him to want others to see his vision as he did. Many successful people share similar qualities, and it isn't unique to him."
On October 5, 2017, The New York Times reports Weinstein settled with eight women who accused him of unwanted physical contact and sexual harassment over three decades. Weinstein, through his spokeswoman, apologized for causing pain to colleagues and said he was taking a leave of absence and entering therapy.
On October 10, 2017, The New Yorker reports allegations by 13 women who say Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them, including three who said he raped them. Weinstein denies non-consensual sex.
After the allegations, Weinstein was fired from his company and was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
On Monday (January 6) Weinstein, 67, goes on trial for rape in New York. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting two women, in 2006 and 2013. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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