Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBEis an American film producer and film studio executive. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005. He won an Academy Award for producing Shakespeare in Love, and garnered seven Tony Awards for producing a variety of winning plays and musicals, including The Producers, Billy Elliot the Musical, and August: Osage County...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFilm Producer
Date of Birth19 March 1952
CityQueens, NY
CountryUnited States of America
Last year, when 'Black Swan,' 'True Grit' and 'King's Speech' all grossed over $100 million, it gave studios and independent financiers the confidence to make daring movies and not do the same old you-know-what.
It's hard to think of yourself as a brand, especially when I have four daughters who kick my butt early in the morning every day before I go to work.
I remember when I took Quentin Tarantino with me to a very private screening of the documentary 'Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,' which shows some of the legal irregularities of his case. I was involved by the film, and it was an amazing experience to see people weep at the end of it.
If an Internet company steals content, they shut it down. And let me tell you, Apple France, Yahoo France or Google France, none of them have gone out of business.
We've been able to access deals that under our former relationship with Disney - with tax advantages and strategic partners - that we just weren't able to do.
We didn't care if we were well-liked as long as the movies were good. We served the movie - that was our master at Miramax. In our second incarnation, the movie is still the master but we're getting the same results in more subtle ways.
I think I took my eye off the ball. From about 2005, 2006, 2007, I was out of it. I thought I could oversee movies and have it done for me, so to speak.
When people ask me what makes movies great, it's the material.
My movies are important on an economic basis, on an artistic basis.
You can spend all the money in the world. If you've got a bad product, it doesn't matter.
We in the independent sector more than anybody need Netflix, because they care about what we do.
I think sometimes we in the industry have to do ambitious projects.
If we don't get gun-control laws in this country, we are full of beans. To have the National Rifle Association rule the United States is pathetic. And I agree with Mayor Michael Bloomberg: It's time to put up or shut up about gun control for both parties.
I'm probably the only person who goes to work and says 'Wow, it's really nice here and sweet,' even in the competitive movie business.