Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein CBE (Hon) (born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer.

Career

Born to Jewish parents on March 19, 1952 in Flushing, Queens in New York City, New York, Weinstein grew up in Buffalo, NY. He currently lives in Connecticut.

Raised with an interest in film and production, Harvey, along with his brother Bob Weinstein, independently produced concerts in the late 1970's, until they began producing films with 1979's The Secret Policeman's Ball which they acquired at the Cannes Film Festival. From the profit of that film, they started Miramax, named for their parents, Max and Miriam.

Harvey Weinstein and Miramax first broke onto the cultural landscape with the release of Errol Morris's documentary The Thin Blue Line in 1988, which detailed the struggle of a wrongfully convicted inmate stuck on death row, Randall Adams. The publicity that soon surrounded the case resulted in the release of Adams and nationwide publicity for Miramax. The following year, the release of Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies, and Videotape made Miramax the most successful independant studio in America.

Also in 1989, Miramax released two art-house films, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover and celebrated 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. Harvey 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, Disney offered Harvey and Bob $80 million dollars 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.

1996 brought Miramax's first Best Picture with the victory of The English Patient. This would start a string of critical successes that would include Shakespeare in Love and Good Will Hunting.

On March 29, 2005, it was announced that the Weinstein brothers would leave Miramax on September 30 and would form their own production company, tentatively named The Weinstein Co. with several other media executives and reportedly Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

After being reported in The Hollywood Reporter in August 2005, Harvey will however still be involved with Miramax after September due to several high profile films being released one of which stars Johnny Depp. Depp requested Harvey be involved creatively in the process of marketing behind the release of The Libertine which, according to Depps agent, requires "intelligent marketing". Weinstein and the new Miramax boss Daniel Battsek will help oversee it together.

Weinstein's company is to distribute Hoodwinked, which releases in December 2005. Hoodwinked, produced by Maurice Kanbar, is an updated retelling of the the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.

He was awarded an Honorary CBE in Nov 2004 for services to the British Film Industry. Many of his films, like Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient," were at least partially shot in British studios.

Criticism of Weinstein

While lauded for opening up the independent film market and making it financially viable, Weinstein has been lambasted for some other techniques he has applied in his business dealings. He has often been accused of using unethical techniques and blackmail in order to secure the films he wants at the price he desires, and purchases some films solely to keep them off the market during the awards season.

The most specific criticisms come from his purchases of Asian films including Shaolin Soccer and Hero, films which were huge critical success in Asia and Hong Kong but languished on Miramax's shelves for years. Shaolin Soccer specifically was redubbed into English and the soundtrack was drastically altered causing some to cry foul over the filmmaker's vision being muddled.

The Last Mogul

In early 2005, the pop culture ezine The Brink launched a hilarious cartoon celebrating Weinstein's tumultuous career and spirit entitled "The Last Mogul". It is written by seasoned industry veteran, Moss Egan, who also launched, TheLastMogul.com to index his weekly comic.