In 1993, the Walt Disney Company bought the independent studio Miramax in an effort to expand their corporation and acquire a more adult audience.
For Bob and Harvey Weinstein, who founded Miramax, the merger was an unprecedented deal. It was an example of how much impact independent film made on the industry and proved major studios now wanted a piece of the action. As of September this year, Harvey and Bob Weinstein are parting ways with Disney, though the name Miramax will stay with the Walt Disney Corporation. Though the split was said to be amiable on both sides, none were too surprised by the move.
The term evolutionary"" is tossed around a lot in Hollywood, but Miramax under the Weinsteins truly was. Whereas the 1980s are largely remembered as the decade of the special-effects blockbuster, Miramax was largely responsible for the independent film boom of the 1990s. The company pulled independent film out of obscure art theaters and popularized it for mainstream America. Miramax became a place that took risks on artists and made celebrities out of people like Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino. Miramax attended every film festival in the world, buying up completed films such as ""The Piano"" and releasing them in the United States.
As the years went on under the ownership of the Walt Disney Company, tensions between Miramax and Disney CEO Michael Eisner surfaced. Eisner claimed Miramax was losing money despite its plethora of successful films, and the Weinsteins constantly clashed with Eisner over creative control, such as when Disney refused to distribute last summer's ""Fahrenheit 9/11.""
To be fair to Disney, Miramax was not without its own share of controversy, mostly due to the antics of Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein developed a reputation as one of the most outspoken, bombastic men in the movie industry who would do anything to get what he wanted. He was nicknamed ""Harvey Scissorhands"" due to his constant desire to trim down movies the company purchased on the film festival circuit to better suit them to American audiences.
As time went on, many accused Miramax of betraying their independent roots as the company started funding movies with budgets at $50 to $100 million such as ""Chicago"" or ""Gangs of New York."" Additionally, Harvey Weinstein is charged as the man who revolutionized the Oscar race. His high-profile, multimillion dollar campaigns helped three Miramax films win Best Picture within seven years, turning the Oscars into a battleground where money could be worth more than talent.
When all is said and done, the Weinstein split from Miramax is bad news for Disney, but business as usual for everyone else. The Weinsteins have a loyal client base that includes Smith, Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, and many have said they will leave the new Miramax to work with wherever the Weinsteins end up. Disney is now thrust into the position of having to juggle the studio without the men who founded and maintained it, and also without many of the studio's major talent. Miramax will remain a company in name, but its future is in question. More than anything, the departure of the Weinsteins is symbolic, as it represents the end of a chapter in a company that truly changed the face of movies in the last 15 years.
Dan Marfield's column runs every Monday in the Cardinal. He can be reached at ddmarfield@wisc.edu.
