billsfan89 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 For those of you aren't familiar with what Miramax is they are an independent film producer/distributor that led the way for the new wave of independent film making throughout the late 1980's and early 1990's. In 1993 they were bought by Disney and throughout the 1990's and early 2000's they were fairly strong under corporate ownership. However during the mid 2000's the company hit a hard point when their founders the Weinstein brothers left to form their own company. Since that point they were pretty much not the same company although they did turn out some good work like no country for old men so while the shutting down is more of a symbolic gesture that signals the end of a formerly great company. For those wondering what films were made/distributed/produced by Miramax here are the most notable ones. Pulp Fiction Clerks (A lot of other Kevin Smith stuff as well) The Crow Reservoir dogs Swingers Chasing Amy Good Will Hunting Shakespeare in Love Gangs of New York Cold Mountain Both Kill Bill's Garden State There will be blood No country for old men Miramax's best work will perhaps be that they were a big vehicle to distribute indie movies back in the 80's and early 90's either way without Miramax the movie landscape would be a lot different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrojanitor Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 For those of you aren't familiar with what Miramax is they are an independent film producer/distributor that led the way for the new wave of independent film making throughout the late 1980's and early 1990's. In 1993 they were bought by Disney and throughout the 1990's and early 2000's they were fairly strong under corporate ownership. However during the mid 2000's the company hit a hard point when their founders the Weinstein brothers left to form their own company. Since that point they were pretty much not the same company although they did turn out some good work like no country for old men so while the shutting down is more of a symbolic gesture that signals the end of a formerly great company. For those wondering what films were made/distributed/produced by Miramax here are the most notable ones. Pulp Fiction Clerks (A lot of other Kevin Smith stuff as well) The Crow Reservoir dogs Swingers Chasing Amy Good Will Hunting Shakespeare in Love Gangs of New York Cold Mountain Both Kill Bill's Garden State There will be blood No country for old men Miramax's best work will perhaps be that they were a big vehicle to distribute indie movies back in the 80's and early 90's either way without Miramax the movie landscape would be a lot different. Miramax is essentially The Weinstein Company now. Miramax has been a Disney offshoot for about 3-4 years now. the name has been a marketing gimmick for a few years now more than anything. There Will Be Blood was co-produced by Paramount, for example. The Weinsteins are attempting to buy back the Miramax name...hopefully that goes down. The one Miramax film everyone forgets about is Smoke. Lost to time, but an amazing amazing film Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellDressed Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Harvey's out of cash?? I thought he bought a script recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellDressed Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Miramax is essentially The Weinstein Company now. Miramax has been a Disney offshoot for about 3-4 years now. the name has been a marketing gimmick for a few years now more than anything. There Will Be Blood was co-produced by Paramount, for example. The Weinsteins are attempting to buy back the Miramax name...hopefully that goes down. The one Miramax film everyone forgets about is Smoke. Lost to time, but an amazing amazing film Does Keitel have an accent in that film?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrojanitor Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Does Keitel have an accent in that film?? Not really. It takes place in Brooklyn, so he has a little Brooklyn in there. Great movie by Wayne Wang. There's a completely improvised follow up called Blue in the Face which has its moments. But Smoke is a terrific little character piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Not really. It takes place in Brooklyn, so he has a little Brooklyn in there. Great movie by Wayne Wang. There's a completely improvised follow up called Blue in the Face which has its moments. But Smoke is a terrific little character piece. Smoke is terrific. Blue in the Face is "interesting", to be kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomdayfan Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Miramax had its roots in Buffalo. Remember Harvey & Corky? Miramax & Buffalo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Harvey's out of cash?? I thought he bought a script recently. Two, actually... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Miramax is essentially The Weinstein Company now. Miramax has been a Disney offshoot for about 3-4 years now. the name has been a marketing gimmick for a few years now more than anything. There Will Be Blood was co-produced by Paramount, for example. The Weinsteins are attempting to buy back the Miramax name...hopefully that goes down. The one Miramax film everyone forgets about is Smoke. Lost to time, but an amazing amazing film Well Disney bought mirimax in 1993 but the Weinstein's stayed with the company till 2005 when they formed the Weinstein company. Honestly The Weinstein company hasn't been as successful as many thought it would be in fact they had many massive layoffs in 2009 and more are expected in 2010 BUT I hope they can secure the rights to the Mirimax name and restore it to its former glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrojanitor Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Well Disney bought mirimax in 1993 but the Weinstein's stayed with the company till 2005 when they formed the Weinstein company. Honestly The Weinstein company hasn't been as successful as many thought it would be in fact they had many massive layoffs in 2009 and more are expected in 2010 BUT I hope they can secure the rights to the Mirimax name and restore it to its former glory. Thing is Miramax traded in volume. I started to get seriously interested in film around 1992-3 or so and I can tell you like everything other film I saw had the Miramax tag. Luckily like 1 out of every 10 films was a modest hit. They also had Dimension pumping money into the organization. For every Clerks there were at least 5 Go Fish. Problem now its just the Weinsteins. Their buy everything mentality is backfiring on them. They've also been cursed, no reason why Grindhouse didn't make massive amounts of cash. Fortunately Inglorious Basterds is going to prop them up for another couple years. Read "Down and Dirty Pictures" by Peter Biskind (pretty sure its by Biskind) Really entertaining breakdown of the rise and fall of Miramax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Thing is Miramax traded in volume. I started to get seriously interested in film around 1992-3 or so and I can tell you like everything other film I saw had the Miramax tag. Luckily like 1 out of every 10 films was a modest hit. They also had Dimension pumping money into the organization. For every Clerks there were at least 5 Go Fish. Problem now its just the Weinsteins. Their buy everything mentality is backfiring on them. They've also been cursed, no reason why Grindhouse didn't make massive amounts of cash. Fortunately Inglorious Basterds is going to prop them up for another couple years. Read "Down and Dirty Pictures" by Peter Biskind (pretty sure its by Biskind) Really entertaining breakdown of the rise and fall of Miramax Well the Weinstein's will be in film in some sort of capacity for as long as they want, however they need to be smarter with their choices the reason working in volume worked is because they liked small budget movies and one of those small budget movies ended up being a success it funded the operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrojanitor Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Well the Weinstein's will be in film in some sort of capacity for as long as they want, however they need to be smarter with their choices the reason working in volume worked is because they liked small budget movies and one of those small budget movies ended up being a success it funded the operation. Culturally independent film is not as important as it once was. In like 1992, 93, 94 popular taste started to shift. The glitzy indulgences of the 80s became passe....hence grunge, alternative, hip hop and punk gaining footholds in the mainstream. That trickled down into television and film as well. Obviously that new mentality did not fully take over, but the so-called gen X was giving hit singles to Fugazi and letting tarantino movies gross $100million. I don't think people care that much about independent cinema anymore though. Indie film has become more of a marketing term..."independent film" always involves movie stars and modest budgets. Tiny star-less films do not really stand a chance anymore. The kind of cinema the Weinsteins are interested in advocating is no longer commercially viable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Share Posted February 2, 2010 Culturally independent film is not as important as it once was. In like 1992, 93, 94 popular taste started to shift. The glitzy indulgences of the 80s became passe....hence grunge, alternative, hip hop and punk gaining footholds in the mainstream. That trickled down into television and film as well. Obviously that new mentality did not fully take over, but the so-called gen X was giving hit singles to Fugazi and letting tarantino movies gross $100million. I don't think people care that much about independent cinema anymore though. Indie film has become more of a marketing term..."independent film" always involves movie stars and modest budgets. Tiny star-less films do not really stand a chance anymore. The kind of cinema the Weinsteins are interested in advocating is no longer commercially viable. Well things tend to repeat every 20 years or so, I hope that this holds true for indie (not small budget featuring big stars looking for an Oscar nods) films. I think we will see a comeback in tiny star-less movies just because we are seeing an over saturation of those big budget films, gen Y I hope wants something different. Maybe that is just wishful thinking as I soon hope to get a script made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrojanitor Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Well things tend to repeat every 20 years or so, I hope that this holds true for indie (not small budget featuring big stars looking for an Oscar nods) films. I think we will see a comeback in tiny star-less movies just because we are seeing an over saturation of those big budget films, gen Y I hope wants something different. Maybe that is just wishful thinking as I soon hope to get a script made. Really? I went to film school and ended up shooting/writing a couple short films. It didn't really pan out and I'm now finishing my masters in film in order to teach it at the university level. What have you been doing to get the script made? I used to hassle Troma with dozens of trashy horror film scripts to no avail...but unfortunately I can take no for an answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Share Posted February 2, 2010 Really? I went to film school and ended up shooting/writing a couple short films. It didn't really pan out and I'm now finishing my masters in film in order to teach it at the university level. What have you been doing to get the script made? I used to hassle Troma with dozens of trashy horror film scripts to no avail...but unfortunately I can take no for an answer Well I am still polishing up the script but it is done at least one of the prototypes is. As far as practically getting it made I haven't done much. First I have 3-4 more semesters of school left (1.5-2 years) so I figure I should get my degree in Communications first then work on getting it made. My script is more of a clerks in a bowling alley with a love and longing story thrown in for good measure. It has a lot of Kevin Smith influence but I feel I put a lot of my own style into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrojanitor Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Well I am still polishing up the script but it is done at least one of the prototypes is. As far as practically getting it made I haven't done much. First I have 3-4 more semesters of school left (1.5-2 years) so I figure I should get my degree in Communications first then work on getting it made. My script is more of a clerks in a bowling alley with a love and longing story thrown in for good measure. It has a lot of Kevin Smith influence but I feel I put a lot of my own style into it. I'll tell you what man, I've made films, I've taught English and Film and TA'd screenwriting at Oklahoma State U. You want someone to give your script a once over, a totally impartial dude who knows structure, I'd be glad to take a quick look and give you a couple notes. Nothing fancy, just a set of eyes that knows what is going on. No biggie, I could care less about credit or whatever, I'm balls deep in thesis writing and could use something else to look at Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Share Posted February 2, 2010 I'll tell you what man, I've made films, I've taught English and Film and TA'd screenwriting at Oklahoma State U. You want someone to give your script a once over, a totally impartial dude who knows structure, I'd be glad to take a quick look and give you a couple notes. Nothing fancy, just a set of eyes that knows what is going on. No biggie, I could care less about credit or whatever, I'm balls deep in thesis writing and could use something else to look at Just send me a pm with your personal email you sound like you would know a lot about how to write a script. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 I'm still a little POd at Harvey for politicking Shakespeare in Love to win Best Picture over the best movie of all time - Saving Private Ryan..........that was a joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellDressed Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 I'm still a little POd at Harvey for politicking Shakespeare in Love to win Best Picture over the best movie of all time - Saving Private Ryan..........that was a joke Ahh, come on man, that's almost as bad as imdb having shawshank redemption as their #1 film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Ahh, come on man, that's almost as bad as imdb having shawshank redemption as their #1 film. OK, what's the best - Shakespeare in Love? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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