Deal Includes Development and Distribution of Content from Miramax Library
Miramax and The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today a multi-year, multi-title film, television and live stage co-production and co-distribution agreement involving library- derived and original development projects covering some of the most iconic titles in the Miramax library.
Films created under this partnership will be released in the United States by TWC and sold in the international marketplace by Miramax, and could include derivative works of some of the most recognized titles in the Miramax library from Swingers to Shakespeare in Love in addition to new titles currently in development.
The partnership also includes the development of several television series based on Miramax titles such as Good Will Hunting and Flirting with Disaster, with Miramax to lead international distribution and team with TWC domestically.
The multi-year deal is the next important step in Miramax’s commitment to creating new, original content, supporting the Studio’s return to prominence as a major supplier of smart, provocative, quality entertainment.
The multi-year deal is the next important step in Miramax’s commitment to creating new, original content, supporting the Studio’s return to prominence as a major supplier of smart, provocative, quality entertainment.
Acquired on the eve of the entertainment industry’s digital distribution boom in 2010 by Qatar Holding, together with the investor group led by Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.’s Colony Capital, Miramax has enjoyed tremendous success in bringing this celebrated library to audiences around the world through a global distribution capability that reaches nearly every country in the world, and has proven in the last three years to be one of the most valuable libraries in film history—a clear testament to the incredible content picking instincts of the Weinsteins since founding Miramax in 1979.
“Qatar Holding fully supports this exciting development for Miramax, as part of a long-term strategy to further enhance the value in the company’s extensive catalogue of material. By securing an agreement between Miramax and The Weinstein Company, the deal brings together two of the best-known names in the film industry to provide a dynamic partnership which will take Miramax to the next stage in its journey,” Qatar Holding said.
“As some of the greatest independent filmmakers in history, Harvey and Bob built Miramax into one of the most recognizable and powerful brands in Hollywood. The iconic library they created has enabled us to capture the value of the digital distribution revolution and harvest revenue far greater than we ever imagined,” said Thomas J. Barrack Jr., Founder, Chairman and CEO of Colony Capital, LLC and Chairman of the Board of Miramax.
“Reuniting Harvey and Bob with the acres of cinematic diamonds that is the Miramax library, and combining the two companies’ powerful distribution capabilities, will create an unparalleled partnership in cinematic excellence,” Barrack added.
“This is an amazing opportunity to reunite us with the company named after our parents Miriam and Max. We salute Qatar Holding and Tom Barrack of Colony Capital for joining forces in this most exciting of endeavors. From movies to TV shows to the Broadway stage they have reinvigorated Miramax productions and to have the Miramax banner fly once again is a dream come true for all of us,” says Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company.
Miriam Weinstein (Harvey and Bob’s mother) said, “Over the years Bob and Harvey have never let me talk although I would have done better than them, after all I am a Jewish mother. I want to thank Tom Barrack, Colony Capital, and Qatar Holding for bringing Miramax actively back into my life and making a dream come true. No one would be happier than Harvey and Bob’s late father, Max. This is truly a lucky partnership for all involved, for filmmakers and hopefully lucky for filmgoers all over the world.”
Miramax and TWC anticipate the first productions will start in early to mid- 2014. Predating this agreement was Miramax’s development of several IP- derived TV series including Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, which is currently in production, James Mangold’s Copland and Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. Miramax and Sony’s Screen Gems also just wrapped shooting of Jeremy Garelick’s The Wedding Ringer.
ABOUT QATAR HOLDING
Qatar Holding, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority, is a global investment institution and a preferred partner of choice for investors, financiers and other stakeholders.
It is envisaged that the already significant investment portfolio of Qatar Holding will continue to grow. Key investments of Qatar Holding include Agricultural Bank of China, Barclays plc, Canary Wharf Group (via Songbird Estates), Credit Suisse Group, Harrods Group, Hassad Food Company, Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd, Iberdrola SA, J Sainsbury plc, London Stock Exchange Group, Qatar Exchange, Qatar Telecom, Qatar National Bank, Santander Brasil and Volkswagen AG.
ABOUT COLONY CAPITAL, LLC
Founded in 1991 by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Colony Capital is a private, international investment firm focusing primarily on debt and equity investments in real estate-related assets and operating companies. The firm has invested $52 billion in over 30,000 assets/loans through various corporate, portfolio and complex property transactions. Colony has a team of more than 400 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in New York, Boston, Scottsdale, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Beirut, Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei. For more information, visit www.colonyinc.com.
ABOUT MIRAMAX
Miramax is a leading worldwide film and television studio with a library of more than 700 motion pictures. The Miramax library holds some of the world’s most original and acclaimed independent films including Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, Good Will Hunting, The English Patient, No Country for Old Men, Kill Bill Volumes I and II, Life is Beautiful, Reservoir Dogs, Sex, Lies and Videotape, Cinema Paradiso and My Left Foot – as well as scores of commercially successful films such as Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bad Santa, and the Scream, Hellraiser, Scary Movie and Spy Kids franchises. Collectively, the Miramax library has received 284 Academy Award® nominations and 68 Oscars®, including four Best Picture awards.
Miramax is headquartered in Santa Monica, California with a sales office in London. For more information, please visit www.miramax.com, “like” the company on Facebook and follow Miramax on Twitter @Miramax.
ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which has released such popular franchises as SCREAM, SPY KIDS and SCARY MOVIE. Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been commercial and critical successes. TWC releases took home eight 2012 Academy Awards®, the most wins in the studio’s history. The tally included Best Picture for Michel Hazanavicius’s THE ARTIST and Best Documentary Feature for TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay’s UNDEFEATED. THE ARTIST brought TWC its second consecutive Best Picture statuette following the 2011 win for Tom Hooper’s THE KING’S SPEECH.
Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as GRINDHOUSE; 1408; I’M NOT THERE; THE GREAT DEBATERS; VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; THE ROAD; HALLOWEEN; THE PAT TILLMAN STORY; PIRANHA 3D; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; A SINGLE MAN; BLUE VALENTINE; THE COMPANY MEN; MIRAL; SCRE4M; SUBMARINE; DIRTY GIRL; APOLLO 18; OUR IDIOT BROTHER; I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT; SARAH’S KEY; SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD IN 4D; MY WEEK WITH MARILYN; THE IRON LADY; W.E.; CORIOLANUS; UNDEFEATED; THE ARTIST; BULLY; THE INTOUCHABLES; LAWLESS; KILLING THEM SOFTLY; THE MASTER; SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK; DJANGO UNCHAINED; QUARTET; ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH; DARK SKIES; THE SAPPHIRES; SCARY MOVIE 5; and KON-TIKI. Currently in release are UNFINISHED SONG and FRUITVALE STATION, LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER, THE GRANDMASTER, SALINGER, and 12-12-12, PHILOMENA, and MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM. Upcoming releases include AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, ONE CHANCE, and VAMPIRE ACADEMY.
TWC is active in television production, led by former Miramax Films President of Production Meryl Poster. TWC is the studio behind such hit television series as the Emmy® nominated and Peabody Award winning reality series PROJECT RUNWAY and its spin-off series PROJECT RUNWAY ALL STARS and PROJECT ACCESSORY; the VH1 reality series MOB WIVES and its spin-off series MOB WIVES CHICAGO and BIG ANG; and the critically acclaimed scripted HBO comedy/crime series THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY which also received a Peabody Award. The company is in production on the upcoming TLC series WELCOME TO MYRTLE MANOR, the A&E series RODEO QUEENS, and the Lifetime reality competition show SUPERMARKET SUPERSTAR hosted by Stacy Keibler. Among TWC’s other projects in development for television are the martial-arts epic MARCO POLO for Starz, an untitled private eye procedural for FX, and THE NANNY DIARIES developed by ABC with a pilot by Amy Sherman Palladino.
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