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Miramax Films is the
art-house/
independent film division of
The Walt Disney Company, and acts as both producer and distributor for its own films or
foreign films.
Founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein and headquartered in
New York City and
Cambridge,
Massachusetts, Miramax was a leading independent film motion picture distribution and production company before it was acquired by Disney in
1993. The Weinsteins operated Miramax with more creative and financial independence than any other division of Disney, until 2005 when they decided to leave the company and founded
The Weinstein Company. When the Weinsteins departed in late 2005, Miramax Films was operated by
Daniel Battsek who reported to
Rich Ross, chairman of
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
History
Founded by the brothers
Harvey and
Bob Weinstein in
Buffalo, New York in 1979, the company was named by combining the first names of their parents Max and Miriam, and was originally 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 US marketplace. The resulting film
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (US Version) 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 US sensibilities.
Among the company's other breakthrough films as distributors in the late 1980s and early 1990s were
Scandal,
sex, lies, and videotape,
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and
The Crying Game. The company also made films such as
Pulp Fiction,
Heavenly Creatures and
Shakespeare in Love.
In addition to those successes, Miramax acquired and/or produced many films that did extraordinarily well financially. The company became one of the leaders of the independent film revolution of the 1990s. Miramax produced or distributed seven films with box office grosses totalling more than $100 million; its most successful title,
Chicago, earned more than $300 million worldwide.
[Chicago (2002)]
The company was also exceptionally successful in securing
Academy Award nominations for its releases and a large number of the nominations resulted in
Oscar wins.
In 1992, Miramax began a deal with
Paramount Pictures for VHS and TV distribution of certain Miramax releases. Paramount would also distribute theatrically certain releases that might have commercial appeal (such as
Bob Roberts, though video rights to that film were owned by
Live Entertainment - which is now
Lions Gate Entertainment). Paramount still owns video rights to some of these films today, while TV distribution is now with
CBS Television Distribution.
[Miramax Deal On Distribution - New York Times]
In 1993 Miramax was purchased for $70 million by
The Walt Disney Company. 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 companies. Disney, however, had the final say on what Miramax could release (see
Fahrenheit 9/11,
Kids and
Dogma, for examples). Disney's
Buena Vista Home Entertainment division releases Miramax output.
Miramax operated, until 2005, the label
Dimension Films, specializing in genre films and created the
Spy Kids,
Scream and
Scary Movie film franchises.
Since the acquisition by
Disney, the Weinsteins had many problems with Disney CEO,
Michael Eisner, due creative and financial differences. Eisner was reluctant to give as much creative freedom and financial support for the Weinsteins, who over the years increased the budget for their productions. Disagreements between the two came to the point that negotiations to extend the contract with the Weinsteins in Miramax, were terrible.
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. 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 simply
The Weinstein Company, 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 formerly was head of
Buena Vista International in the
UK. Battsek refocused Miramax to produce films of high quality but low budget.
Maple Pictures now hold the rights to distribute Miramax films in
Canada in 2008.
In October 3, 2009, Disney announced the slashing of Miramax in a 70%, and reducing the number of releases from 6 to 8, to just 3 films per year. The label's marketing, distribution and administrative functions, which had operated independently, will be folded into the parent studio in Burbank. The move becomes effective in January 2010.
[Disney to slash Miramax Films staff to 20, reduce releases to 3 a year]
In October 30, 2009,
The Walt Disney Company announced the resignation of
Daniel Battsek as President of Miramax Films, effective when the transition from the studio in
New York to
Burbank were completed.
[Daniel Battsek stepping down as President of Miramax]
Criticism
Miramax has come under criticism for its editing, dubbing, and replacing the soundtracks of various foreign films it releases. One notable example is
Iron Monkey, which though released subtitled, had its subtitles altered to remove the political context of the story, had scenes trimmed and changed for violence and pacing, and had the soundtrack changed, removing the famous
Wong Fei Hung theme. Other films that they have altered in this way include
Shaolin Soccer,
Farewell My Concubine (theatrical release),
The Thief and the Cobbler and
Jet Li's
Fist of Legend.
Peter Biskind's book
Down and Dirty Pictures claims that the Weinsteins have sometimes dealt dishonestly with filmmakers.
Under the Weinsteins, Miramax had a history of buying the rights to
Asian films, only to sit on them without releasing them for some years. One example of this is
Hero, a 2002
Chinese martial arts film. It languished in Miramax's vaults for two years before it was salvaged with the intervention of
Quentin Tarantino. And sometimes Miramax purchased films only to never release them. An example of this is
Tears of the Black Tiger, a
Thai film. After changing the ending of the film,
Tears of the Black Tiger sat in Miramax's vaults for five years until its rights were purchased by
Magnolia Pictures in 2006.
The "no cuts" policy was highlighted when Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein suggested editing
Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable. In response, a
Studio Ghibli producer sent an authentic
katana with a simple message: "No cuts".
One reason for the delays and non-releases of films was an accounting scheme the Weinsteins used to shift potential money-losing films to future
fiscal years and ensure they would receive annual bonuses from Disney,
while trying to bar retailers from legally exporting authentic DVDs of the films.
[Studio Warns Kung Fu Site]
As a result of the Weinsteins' actions, a number of Asian producers who sold their distribution rights to the company refuse to do so for their subsequent films.
Defenders of the company point out that prior to Miramax most of the films purchased by the company would have had little to no chance of achieving U.S. distribution other than by very small distributors with minimal marketing expertise and funds. They also state that the purpose of the company's aggressive re-editing technique was always to try help the films find a broader American audience than they might otherwise find.
"I'm not cutting for fun", Harvey Weinstein said in an interview. "I'm cutting for the shit to work. All my life I served one master: the film. I love movies."
.
Miramax is also accused of ignoring their more artistic, less audience-friendly films, especially when directors refuse to re-cut them to make them less challenging.
Dead Man, which director
Jim Jarmusch refused to re-cut, got a very limited release and critics have accused the Weinsteins of burying the film. Tarantino, among other directors working with Miramax, have happily re-cut their films to the Weinsteins' liking.
[jim-jarmusch.net]
Miramax Family
Miramax Family (also known as
Miramax Family Films) is the family division of Miramax Films created in 1991. Some films distributed by them are:
List of Select Miramax films
To see the full list visit List of films released by Miramax Films
Further reading
- Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind (Simon & Schuster, 2004)
