The Weinstein Company: Difference between revisions

{{PageCredits|edits=NAlogofan and TheLogoFan2004|video=IdentsandLogos}}

 

| founder = {{w|Harvey Weinstein|Harvey}} and {{w|Bob Weinstein}}

| country = United States

Harvey & Bob '''Weinstein''' founded '''The Weinstein Company''' in 2005 after leaving [[Miramax Films]] that same year. After the departure, the Weinsteins retained ownership of [[Dimension Films]]. From April 7, 2006 to November 7, 2008, most of their films were primarily distributed and marketed by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios|Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]], after which they intermittently distributed alone or produced with other studios.

On October 5, 2017, ''The New York Times'' published an editorial stating that over 60 women in the media industry have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, including the use of "casting couch" practices, with rumors spanning as far back as 19 years.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html</ref> On October 8, TWC announced that Weinstein had been dismissed from the company; prior to Weinstein's firing, four members of the board of directors resigned (a fifth, Richard Koenigsberg, followed suit on October 12), while Weinstein said that he had taken an indefinite leave of absence. The allegations, Weinstein's dismissal, and major backlash in the media, combined with the poor performance of TWC's then-released films, eventually led to the company declaring bankruptcy on March 19, 2018. Weinstein subsequently pled guilty and was sentenced to 23 years in prison in March 2020, and later for an additional 16 years in February 2023, leaving a total of 39 years in prison.

To raise funds, TWC sold the rights to three of its films, ''Paddington 2'', ''In the Heights'', and ''The Six Billion Dollar Man'', to [[Warner Bros. Pictures]]. In May 2018, Lantern Capital won the studio's bankruptcy auction, and on July 16, they absorbed TWC's 277-film library into a new production and distribution company called [[Lantern Entertainment]], with the rights to a majority of their films later being sold to [[Lionsgate Films]]. Later that year, TWC's library was transferred to [[Spyglass Media Group]], which Lantern Entertainment has a majority stake in.

Bob Weinstein would later form a new production company, Watch This Entertainment, on October 11, 2019 and brought in former Dimension Films executive Pantea Ghaderi as President of Creative Development.