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

Education and career

Born to Jewish parents in Flushing, New York, Weinstein and his younger brother, Bob Weinstein, grew up in New York City, residing in a co-op named Electchester, where he attended and graduated from John Bowne High School. He next attended the State University of New York at Buffalo and currently lives in Westport, Connecticut.

Raised with an interest in film and production, Weinstein, along with his brother Bob Weinstein, independently produced concerts in the late 1970s, and began producing films, beginning 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 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, the release of Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies, and Videotape made Miramax the most successful independent studio in America.

Also in 1989, Miramax released two art-house 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, 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 its first Best Picture Academy Award with the victory of The English Patient. This started a string of critical successes that included Shakespeare in Love and Good Will Hunting.

In 2000, Harvey Weinstein was bestowed an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters, from the State University of New York at Buffalo despite not completing his course of study there, having dropped out to form Miramax Films in 1979.

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 Rob Rodriguez. The new studio immediately garnered academy award nominations for Transamerica and Mrs. Henderson Presents, and box office success through Hoodwinked and Scary Movie 4.

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

In 2006, Weinstein acquired a stake in the exclusive Web community aSmallWorld, and a DVD distributor, Genius.

Criticism of Weinstein

While lauded for opening up the independent film market and making it financially viable, Weinstein has been lambasted for some of the techniques he has applied in his business dealings. He has been accused of purchasing some films solely to keep them off the market during the awards season. The most specific criticisms have come from his purchases of Asian films including Shaolin Soccer and Hero. These films were huge critical successes in Asia and Hong Kong but languished on Miramax's shelves for years. Shaolin Soccer specifically was redubbed into English and the soundtrack was altered. His demands to trim films' running times—sometmes drastically—earned him the nickname "Harvey Scissorhands", after the Tim Burton film.

In a 2002 piece in The New Yorker, Weinstein appeared somewhat repentant for his often aggressive discussions with directors and producers.

While Weinstein was head of Miramax, the company often produced controversial films. Priest told the story of a gay priest struggling with the problems of an inner-city parish. Dogma lampooned many aspects of Catholicism. The filmmakers, including Miramax and its parent company Disney, were heavily criticized for these films by some Catholics. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 attacked the Bush Administration's response to the September 11 attacks, and generated much controversy. In the end, the latter two films were distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment.

The Last Mogul

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

Trivia

Harvey Weinstein was the not so subtle basis for the character Harvey Weingard in the Entourage episode The Sundance Kids.

Selected filmography

Producer

• True Romance (1993)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Smoke (1995)
• The Crossing Guard (1995)
• The English Patient (1996)
• Scream (1996)
• Good Will Hunting (1998)
• Jackie Brown (1998)
• Shakespeare in Love (1998)
• The Cider House Rules (1999)
• Gangs of New York (2002)
• Chicago (2002)
• Cold Mountain (2003)
• Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (2003/2004)
• Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
• The Aviator (2004)
• Sin City (2005)
• Shut Up & Sing (Dixie Chicks Documentary)(2006)

Director

• Playing For Keeps (1986)

External link

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