Tall, loud and often aggressive, Harvey Weinstein is not your average movie producer.
Harvey Weinstein, and his brother Bob, run one of the most important film companies in the world today, the Weinstein Company.
Known for releasing and financing low-budget, award-winning films, the Weinsteins’ have proven their dominance in an industry that was once dominated by media giants.
Movie distributors like Paramount, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox may still reign in the profits, but smaller distributors like the Weinstein Company are sweeping all the awards.
In the past few years, the Weinsteins have distributed Oscar-winners like “The King’s Speech” and “The Iron Lady.” New films like “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Killing Them Softly” were also distributed through the Weinstein Company.
To better understand the Weinsteins’ significance to the film industry, one must understand what film studios are and what film distribution is.
Film studios are motion picture companies that have facilities to make films on sets, like the Weinstein Company does.
Film distributors are people who market films and adapt them to the screen.
The Weinstein Company often picks up movies that other distributors look over and in turn release them to niche audiences.
If the Weinsteins’ distribute a film that does not do well in the box office, they lose money. The Weinsteins’, like other distributors, take risks.
The impact that the Weinstein Company has had on modern-day moviegoers is immeasurable.
Other Weinstein films include “Inglourious Basterds,” “Capitalism: A Love Story” and “My Week With Marilyn.”
Although the Weinsteins’ do reap financial profits from successful movies, they also take financial risks.
If the Weinsteins’ choose to distribute a film that does poorly in the box office, they are out a large sum of money.
Thanks to a more diverse audience, small, independent production/distribution companies like The Weinstein Company are flourishing today.
In the past, a sort-of monopoly existed when it came to production and distribution companies.
Today, anyone can make a movie and release it via the Internet or a small distribution company.
The beauty of the film industry today is that more diverse and unique movies are being released than ever before.
A person going to the theaters can literally find every type of movie that they’ve ever dreamed of, big budget or small, big actors or not.
Thanks to people like Harvey Weinstein, films that would not have ordinarily been picked up by production giants like Paramount and 20th Century Fox are being released throughout the world.
Capitalism may very well still dominate the movie industry today, but you can’t tell thanks to people like the Weinsteins.
Shane Newell is a sophomore journalism major and an assistant city editor for the Daily 49er.