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Back in 2007, Harvey Weinstein was boasting about Genius Products, the Santa Monica-based DVD distributor 70% owned by The Weinstein Co. That was then, and this is now. On December 24th, its shares were de-listed from the “over-the-counter” board (OCTBB) to the pink sheets. According to Home Media magazine, the de-listing was due to Genius’ inability to report third quarter fiscal 2008 results ending September 30th in a timely manner after formally requesting a filing extension with the SEC. Genius at that time said it would restate consolidated financial statements for six quarters and two fiscal-year periods. How awful must those numbers be after the company, in the second quarter FY2008, reported a 33% decline in DVD revenue to $74.6 million and a loss of $11.7 million due to a 49% drop in box office for Weinstein Co releases The Great Debaters, Diary of the Dead and Cassandra’s Dream. I regularly do box office, and I barely remember those titles.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I think it’s time for Harvey to consider either retirement, or getting a job as a Wal-Mart greeter, because it’s obvious that show-biz just isn’t for him anymore.
Ouch. The pink sheets is not a good place to be.
lousy movies, lousy choices, guess the magic touch just moved elsewhere. or maybe there is some truth to karma……does anyone like this guy?
Uhhhh folks, Genius is going under because they were SO starved for product they handed the Weinsteins the farm, PLUS a 5% distribution fee.
How do you make money on a 5% distribution fee? Please, explain it to me, Furious D?
The movies could all be blockbusters, and Genius would still take a nose dive.
It was a horrendous deal on Genius’ part.
-RnsW
The Weinsteins grew Miramax through two of the most prosperous decades in US history.
Trying to do the same now, in a very cash-intensive business…not gonna happen.
While I take no pleasure at the possibility of Genius Products going under and people losing their jobs, I have to say I was a bit amused at reading this. This is a company I tried to contact late last year in an effort to help promote one of their direct to DVD releases and had my email address blocked, presumably because I wasn’t part of a big entertainment site. Neither that nor this news should be a surprise. The layout of the site and “New to Genius” including very old releases are indications of shoddy running of the business.
Robert Not So Wise”>How do you make money on a 5% distribution fee? Please, explain it to me, Furious D?
Gee Robert Not So Wise, I think in your attempt to somehow flame me, you made my point for me.
Harvey Weinstein’s supposed to be the ultimate movie deal-maker yet, if the 5% deal is true, he makes a piss-poor deal like that, and then alienates almost everyone that makes the product his company needs to make money.
That proves that Harvey’s heart, or brain, isn’t in the biz anymore, just his ego. He should either find a new business, or retire and write a self-aggrandizing tell-all autobiography solely to piss off Hollywood on an epic scale.
If I recall…with “Diary of the Dead”, it was given an extremely limited theater run, akin to an art house flick. Problem is, it’s a horror film, which wouldn’t do well in an art house niche market.
So most of the difficulty is due to giving otherwise OK movies horrible slots.
Please don’t dance around their grave. I know a number of really good people who work for the Weinsteins and have worked their tails off. Just cause people don’t personally like Harvey or Bob don’t celebrate problems at the whole company.
A damn shame that ‘Diary Of The Dead’ didn’t bring any money. It was a noble effort from George A. Romero. Unfortunately, the film didn’t have any ummph.
When do the “Harvey is Back” stories begin? Before or after “Nine” is a hit? With that cast, the movie can be a silent film and still make fifty million in Western Europe alone. Some other promising projects on their slate as well. I haven’t always approved of the way he’s handled himself, but he’s mellowed, and the fact is, at least he aims for art. He may have missed the mark in recent years, but look how weak these movies are that are getting nominated the past couple of years. I’m not saying this town needs Harvey’s past antics, but they need someone to champion real films, not BH Chiahuahua and the garbage Rogue spews out. Searchlight is doing a good job of this, but we need others to step up.