Word: disneying
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...like sex, lies and videotape and The Crying Game to flashy game-changers including Pulp Fiction and the $300 million-grossing Chicago, the Weinsteins proved smart little pictures (as well as smart big ones) could find a wide audience if promoted properly. After leaving longtime corporate parent The Walt Disney Co. last year, the provocative pair have struck out on their own once more with a new boutique media concern simply called The Weinstein Company. TIME?s Jeffrey Ressner spoke to the brothers about their year-old enterprise...
Summing up their strategy, Mike Medavoy, a veteran producer involved with the Weinsteins on two projects, says, "They probably learned a few lessons from their time at Disney. No. 1: it's nice to have a big banker in back of you. No. 2: this business is filled with mistakes, and margins are shrinking, so you have to be more careful than ever before. And No. 3: it's good to hedge your bets...
...siblings are heading a new entity called simply the Weinstein Co., which sounds relatively unflashy, although its grand ambitions dwarf anything the pair did at Disney. Movie production and acquisition still form the backbone, but the Weinstein Co. is positioned more as a diversified boutique media company encompassing home video, cable television, Broadway theater, book publishing, video games and, of course, the Internet. With dozens of projects under way, the Weinsteins estimate that they'll break even next year, turn a profit in 2008 and probably launch an IPO by the decade...
...will mark the brothers' third financial bonanza in show business, the first taking place when they sold their struggling indie-movie company to Disney in 1993 for $70 million. After bristling for years under the control-freak management of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, they ended the bitter final chapter of their Miramax reign on an up note. "After we signed our final contracts, we took all the Disney lawyers to a three-hour, raucous, rollicking dinner," recalls Harvey...
...only money. The real prize lies in the pursuit of power, innovation and, of course, approval from Mom. Miriam Weinstein, 80, is still upset with Disney for not allowing her sons to take back her namesake banner. Maybe if her boys do well this time around, they could just buy Disney instead...