Miramax
Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. Today, it is owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global.
For the former book publishing division of Miramax, see Miramax Books.Formerly
Miramax Films (1979—2010)
December 19, 1979
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
- Jonathan Glickman (CEO)
- Nasser Al-Khelaifi (Chairman)
- The Walt Disney Company (1993–2010)
- beIN Media Group (2016–present; 51%)
- Paramount Global (2020–present; 49%)
100+
- Walt Disney Studios (1993–2010)
- Filmyard Holdings (2010–2016)
- Paramount Pictures (2020–present)
- Miramax Television
- Miramax Family
- Miramax Animation
- Dimension Films (1992–2005)
- Miramax Books (1979–2005)
- Miramax Home Entertainment (1994–2010)
- Dimension Home Video (1994–2006)
It was a leading producer and distributor of independent films until it became the first company acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993. In 2010, Disney sold it to Filmyard Holdings, a joint venture of Colony NorthStar, Tutor-Saliba Corporation and Qatar Investment Authority.[1][2] In March 2016, the company was sold to the beIN Media Group, which later sold a 49% stake to ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) on April 3, 2020.
History[edit]
Independent era (1979–1993)[edit]
Miramax was founded by the Weinstein brothers, Harvey and Bob, along with executive Corky Burger in Buffalo, New York, in 1979, and was named by combining the first names of their parents, Miriam and Max.[3] It was 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 American marketplace. The resulting film, the American version of The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, 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 American sensibilities and audiences. In its early years, Miramax had to focus primarily as a catalyst for music and decided to do a licensing agreement with Thorn EMI Video to release several of Miramax's early films.[4]
Among the company's other breakthrough films as distributors in the late 1980s and early 1990s were Pulp Fiction, Scandal, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, The Crying Game, and Clerks. The company also made films such as Flirting with Disaster, Heavenly Creatures, and Shakespeare in Love.
Miramax acquired and/or produced many other films that did 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 totaling more than $100 million; its most successful title, Chicago, earned more than $300 million worldwide.[5]
The company was also successful in securing Academy Award nominations for its releases, many of which resulted in Oscar wins.
Disney era (1993–2010)[edit]
On June 30, 1993, The Walt Disney Company purchased Miramax for $60 million and assumed all of the company's debt, which was more than $40 million. The acquisition gave Disney entry to the independent film market.[6] 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 subsidiaries and, as a result, had more autonomy than the other Disney-owned companies. Disney, however, had the final say on what Miramax could release (for example, Disney had banned Miramax from releasing Kids, Dogma and Fahrenheit 9/11).[7] Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment division released Miramax output on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc under the name Miramax Home Entertainment in some countries, including the United States; elsewhere, the overall distribution of Miramax's output was passed to the regional licensees of Miramax International, a distribution arm of Miramax that was fully autonomous from Disney's own distribution operations.
With a more stable budget, Miramax began moving beyond acquisitions and distribution and into film production. Until September 30, 2005, the company also operated the label Dimension Films, which was solely founded by Bob to specialize in teen, horror, and other genre films, and created the Scream and Scary Movie film franchises.[8] Harvey funded larger projects from up-and-coming directors, including Robert Rodriguez, Gus Van Sant, and Quentin Tarantino. Some of the films earned Oscars.[8]
In 1997, Miramax joined Peter Jackson as a primary financial backer in attempting to get the Lord of the Rings films produced. Disney disliked the cost of a two-parter, requesting that it be produced as a single film. Jackson and Saul Zaentz rejected Disney's request and looked for another studio or financier. Thus, Miramax sold the rights for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to New Line Cinema in August 1998 for about $12 million, which led The Lord of the Rings to be produced as a trilogy. Miramax retained a 5% stake in the films' gross and then gave 2.5% to the Weinsteins.[9]
Through Miramax, Harvey founded Talk magazine with Tina Brown in 1998 (it shut down in 2002), albeit without the approval of then-Disney chief Michael Eisner, which upset Eisner. Also that year, 30 former employees filed suit over unpaid overtime wages.[8]
By 2003, Miramax was less operative in the independent film market and became more of a mini-major as the company only acquired 3 films while producing Cold Mountain for $80 million. The Weinsteins claimed the company was profitable, but Walt Disney Company president Robert Iger indicated in June 2004 that they were not properly accounting for "account standard overhead, distribution fees, bonuses that we pay Harvey and Bob. Nor are they applying current accounting rules."[8]
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.[10] 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 The Weinstein Company (TWC) 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, who had been head of Buena Vista International in the UK.[10] Battsek refocused Miramax to produce films of high quality but low budget. Maple Pictures held the rights to distribute Miramax films in Canada from 2008 up until August 10, 2011, when Maple Pictures was acquired by Alliance Films.[11] At the time, the company was criticized for delaying or withholding release of Asian films to which it acquired the U.S. distribution rights.[12] Previously, in 2003, the company was criticized for trying to bar retailers from legally exporting authentic DVDs of the films.[13]
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.[14] On October 30, 2009, Disney 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.[15] The company merged its operations with The Walt Disney Studios on January 28, 2010, shutting down Miramax's separate New York and Los Angeles offices.[10][16]
Though Disney Studio Chairman Dick Cook was a staunch supporter of Miramax, the brand was less of a priority for CEO Bob Iger, whose strategy was to focus on Disney's branded mass entertainment that could be exploited across Disney's theme parks, television, and consumer products. Following Disney's $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Cook was succeeded by Rich Ross.[17] As a result, Miramax was relegated to the status of distribution label within the Walt Disney Company.[18] The company confirmed that it was looking into selling the Miramax label on February 9, 2010, with Bob Iger explaining "We determined that continuing to invest in new Miramax movies wasn't necessarily a core strategy of ours".[19]
Company type
Company type
1987
Marc Helwig (EVP)
Independent (1987–1993)
The Walt Disney Company (1993–2010)
Filmyard Holdings (2010–2016)
beIN Media Group (2016–present)
Paramount Global (2020–present)
Miramax