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MIPCOM: Harvey Weinstein Aims For Grammy-Style Event Status With New Michael Flatley Dance Awards Show

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday October 9, 2012 @ 10:29am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein, Marco Polo, The Weinstein Company

Harvey Weinstein sat down for a Q&A at MIPCOM today, making his first official appearance at the TV market. The Weinstein Company co-chairman outlined plans for new annual live TV event show Michael Flatley’s World Dance Awards. As I reported earlier today, Flatley was indeed the surprise guest during Weinstein’s session, but he didn’t do any tap steps.

Related: Weinstein Co. To Produce Michael Flatley Dance Awards Show

Weinstein said the show would be performance-oriented and that he’d call on his stable of celebrity pals from around the world to line the red carpet. “If this show has a cousin, it’s the Grammys,” he said. Making his pitch to buyers, Weinstein added, “We want to make it an event so it’s a game-changer for all the networks that buy the show and a ratings blockbuster that the people who get in early will have year after year.” The show does not yet have a network, but Weinstein is looking to find a hole in the awards calendar where it can stand on its own. “Maybe in April or May before Cannes,” he said. Flatley called the show a “dream come true” and commented, “We owe this to the millions and millions of kids around the world that dance… They give their everything and I can’t understand why there’s no awards.” About 8-10 prizes will be handed out including for best dance in a film, on TV and in video, as well as a best dancer in the world prize. Flatley said he would choreograph the opening ceremony.

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MIPCOM: Weinstein Co. To Produce Michael Flatley Dance Awards Show; Lord Of The Dance Expected At Harvey’s Keynote Today

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday October 9, 2012 @ 7:54am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein

EXCLUSIVE: Harvey Weinstein is getting into the Michael Flatley business – and sidling up to Honey Boo Boo, too. The Weinstein Co. is developing the first World Dance Awards with Flatley, aka The Lord of the Dance. I understand that the annual TV show does not yet have a network home, but that discussions are underway with potential partners. Meanwhile, I understand Flatley will make a surprise appearance at the keynote speech Weinstein will deliver later today here in Cannes.

I’m also hearing that TWC’s Trailer Park Lives is being picked up by TLC with a full series commitment. The reality show will air in January as a companion piece to Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Another new docu-soap, Rodeo Girls, is being pitched here at Mipcom as “Ice Road Truckers meets Housewives.” Read More »

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Weinstein’s French Import ‘The Intouchables’ Is First Official 2012 Academy Screener Mailed To Members

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday October 8, 2012 @ 12:37pm PDTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Big Deals Film, Harvey Weinstein, Omar Sy, Oscars, The Intouchables
Pete Hammond

EXCLUSIVE: Every Oscar season the race is on to see who can put out the first DVD screener sent to Academy members. Well, the race is over for 2012: The Weinstein Company is mailing screeners today of their hit French import The Intouchables to the entire membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association got one over the weekend. The Intouchables, which has grossed more than $360 million worldwide,  is the official French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar (screenings of the record 71 films  in that contest begin Friday night at the Academy). It is the second-highest-grossing non-English-language film of all time after The Passion Of The Christ.

Related: OSCARS: 71 Countries Submit For Foreign-Language Film Race

Last year, Summit was first out of the gate in getting Academy members a screener of A Better Life. The strategy paid off, resulting in a surprise Best Actor SAG and Oscar nomination for star Demian Bichir. Putting those screeners in Oscar voters’ hands early certainly didn’t hurt his chances. Millennium mailed a commercial DVD of Bernie to press a couple of weeks ago with Oscar aspirations attached, but this is the first official manufactured screener for Oscar voters (the Academy has strict rules about packaging and does not allow commercial DVDs to be sent to members). Read More »

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Mipcom Preview: Stars, Limited Series & Minis Making All The World A TV Stage

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday October 8, 2012 @ 1:52am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein, House of Cards, MIPCOM

Television is where it’s at. That’s a refrain that I’ve heard not only – and not surprisingly – from the TV execs on the ground here in Cannes as Mipcom revs up, but also one I heard from movie execs when I was in Los Angeles last week. With fewer mid-range budget pictures being made by the studios and tentpoles trying to establish the stars of tomorrow from a well of unknowns, marquee names are increasingly looking to the small screen for traction in global event-style programming. Even Cannes Film Festival fixture Harvey Weinstein will grace the Croisette again this year when he unveils The Weinstein Co’s new TV slate on Tuesday. In the meantime, minis and limited series are all the rage. In just the past week, NBC picked up The Slap, an eight-episode limited series from Brothers & Sisters’ Jon Robin Baitz and Universal TV-based Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald based on the award-winning Australian short-form. And, Fox and FX Networks moved into the long-form event programming arena, teaming for a new production unit that will supply the sibling networks with high-profile limited and miniseries.

NBC this summer announced its plans for a live broadcast of The Sound Of Music from Smash executive producers (and Oscar show producers) Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. In a TV universe steadily taken over by time-shifted viewing, sports and event programming’s importance is on the rise. A U.S. TV exec told me on Sunday they wouldn’t be surprised if star-studded primetime event TV started to resemble the days of yore with miniseries becoming the must-see appointment, non-DVR wave of the future.

A movie exec in LA lamented to me last week the lack of film roles for serious actors who are mid-career. But Kevin Costner’s Emmy-winning turn in hit History miniseries Hatfields & McCoys had the knock-on effect of reinvigorating the star’s career, scoring him some key roles in major Hollywood features. “Everyone wants miniseries from networks to cable companies. You can drop a star into a mini giving them back-end potential… and there’s less pressure than with a feature if it doesn’t open at $30M,” a TV exec says. Not so coincidentally, A+E Networks’ president of entertainment and media Nancy Dubuc, riding high after Hatfields & McCoys, is in Cannes this week to deliver a keynote address. Read More »

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Ron Burkle Talks Ryan Kavanaugh And Harvey Weinstein To The New Yorker

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday October 1, 2012 @ 7:05am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein, Ron Burkle, Ryan Kavanaugh Relativity

Ron Burkle remains a mystery to Hollywood. The supermarket tycoon turned private equity funds manager has sat down with The New Yorker‘s Connie Bruck for a not-very-flattering long profile. It makes clear he has no over-arching strategy for his entertainment investments at present … Read More »

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Toronto: Weinstein Co Pushes Brad Pitt Pic ‘Killing Them Softly’ Back Into Oscar Race

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday September 11, 2012 @ 6:41pm PDTTags: Brad Pitt, Harvey Weinstein, Killing Them Softly, TIFF Wrap-Up, Toronto Film Festival
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Taking advantage of a sliver of daylight in the Oscar season release corridor, The Weinstein Company has moved from an October 19 to a November 30 release on Killing Them Softly, the Andrew Dominik-directed crime drama that … Read More »

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‘Intouchables’ Breaks ‘Amelie’s Decade-Long Hold On Admissions Record Outside France

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday September 11, 2012 @ 11:13am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein, The Intouchables

In 2001, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s charmer Amélie began to break records inside France and out. In November that year, Miramax released it in the U.S. and it ultimately became the French-language film with the most admissions ever outside its home country. With 23.1M admissions worldwide, Amélie held its perch until this weekend, when another movie handled Stateside by Harvey Weinstein leapfrogged over it. Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s Intouchables, the story of an unlikely friendship between a millionaire quadriplegic and a young man from the other side of the tracks, has now clocked 23.2M entries globally, French export body Unifrance confirms to Deadline. That figure surpasses the nearly 20M tickets Intouchables sold for studio Gaumont during its theatrical run in France. It’s broken records in other territories and still more people will see it outside France in the coming weeks when it opens in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia. In its 16th week in U.S. release, Intouchables has taken $11,570,960 at the box office. Amélie eventually earned upwards of $33M in the U.S. Read More »

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Toronto Q&A: Radius-TWC Presidents Tom Quinn And Jason Janego On How Multi-Platform Is Changing The Indie World

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Sunday September 9, 2012 @ 11:25am PDTTags: Bachelorette, Harvey Weinstein, Jason Janego, Radius-TWC, TIFF Wrap-Up, Tom Quinn, Toronto Film Festival
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: This weekend marks exactly one year since former Magnolia execs Tom Quinn and Jason Janego were hired by Harvey and Bob Weinstein to launch Radius-TWC, their first division dedicated to releasing acquisitions in a multi-platform strategy where films premiere first on VOD at a $10 price that drops to $7 when the film reaches theaters. This VOD-centric business is still being honed, and it’s a lightning rod for debate. Theatrical release traditionalists call it a second class way to release films, little more than shuffling the deck to place the ancillary revenue cycle before the theater part that always came first. Exhibitors, concerned that giving screens to films that go VOD first is potentially harmful to their business, are also torn. Stars accustomed to seeing their work on big screens with big P&A commitments are also worried. At the same time, Margin Call and other films show there is a viable business here, particularly for films that don’t justify a big P&A spend. Considering how Harvey can dominate the festival acquisition market, everyone’s waiting to see how Radius will influence the multi-platform game. Quinn and Janego made their first splash with Bachelorette, a pitch black comedy acquired during Sundance for $2 million, and which topped the iTunes movie rankings before it rolled out to theaters this weekend. Here, Quinn and Janego explain their view of a new business that is changing the indie world.

DEADLINE: What will Bachelorette do at the box office this weekend?

JASON JANEGO: In 47 runs across 16 markets, the estimate is $191,033 for the weekend, with a significant increase from Friday to Saturday through word of mouth, and core metropolitan runs performing at or near the top of their complexes. We’re extremely pleased that the film is outpacing much wider releases vying for the same demographic. Our rollout will continue to build on this success in the weeks to come.

DEADLINE: It’s your first release and it became the first VOD title to top the iTunes top movies chart. Besides a good sound bite, what does that mean in revenues?

TOM QUINN: iTunes is one piece of a big puzzle, but what you should know is, going into our opening weekend we grossed over $4 million through VOD already. That’s the fastest grossing film in this space. It has already exceeded Margin Call. We’re on pace to very quickly top All Good Things, which is the biggest VOD earner in the multi-platform stage. We were number one on iTunes but Rentrak does a national Top Ten ranking for all cable VOD transactions. It’s unanimously all studio films in the top ten, and we reached number four.

JANEGO: That’s a big deal because it is based on transactions.

QUINN: So the number one film is a studio film working at a $4 price point and we’re working at a $10 price point. That starts to put it all in perspective. And the only other films in this category that have been on this top ten list are Margin Call and All Good Things, which both reached nine. Nobody before had exceeded that, and so to be there within 36 hours of release, this is the story that Jason and I have been telling everybody for the last 12 months.

DEADLINE: What story is that?
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Toronto: Weinstein Finds ‘Silver Linings’ At World Premiere For Another Oscar Race

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday September 9, 2012 @ 8:28am PDTTags: Bradley Cooper, Harvey Weinstein, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook, The Master, TIFF Wrap-Up, Toronto, Toronto Film Festival
Pete Hammond

As the Toronto International Film Festival maintains its intense pace, the race for Oscar is clearly heating up. And after last night’s rousing world premiere for David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, you can chalk up yet another major Best Picture contender. The tweets about its inevitable awards potential began almost immediately. The response to this strikingly original and human film was ecstatic, not only during the screening and standing ovation but from everyone I cornered at the Soho House after-party - including several awards pundits who are supposed to be jaded about such things.

Harvey’s Silver Linings almost certainly puts stars Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro in contention for acting nominations. Lawrence and Cooper play two very broken people trying to put their lives back together by helping each other. It reminded me of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine  in The Apartment (1960), deftly navigating the tricky terrain of a film that can change tone from comedy to drama on a dime without ever seeming forced. Both simply inhabit these characters and make a great screen team. And just like Lemmon and MacLaine did after The Apartment when they reteamed on Irma La Douce, Cooper told me they have already completed a second film together, Serena.

Lawrence leaps to the front of the pack with a revelatory performance that seemed to knock most observers out. Cooper also was terrific in a challenging role in The Place Beyond The Pines (acquired today by Focus Features). He had nothing but praise for his co-star who at just 22 years old takes on a part that would challenge much older stars. Writer-director David O. Russell told me  at the after-party she was actually a last-minute casting. “We were seeing just about every major actress for the role but thought she was just too young. Then when she ‘Skyped’ in her audition from her home, there was no question. Lawrence was nominated for Best Actress for Winter’s Bone (2009) and should start preparing now to go through it all over again. So should Russell who was in the Oscar race with The Fighter two years ago for the first time and should be right back in there this year. Read More »

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Harvey Weinstein Reacts To Venice Jury

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday September 9, 2012 @ 8:10am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein, The Master, The Weinstein Co
Pete Hammond

I spoke to Harvey Weinstein in Toronto after The Weinstein Company’s  The Master won 3 big awards at the Venice Film Festival and about the latest jury scandal there. Weinstein explained that the panel wanted to give The Master the top Golden Lion prize and also acting awards. But when … Read More »

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Harvey Weinstein Set As MIPCOM Keynote Speaker

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday September 5, 2012 @ 7:10am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein, MIPCOM, The Weinstein Company
Nellie Andreeva

Harvey Weinstein MIPCOMHarvey Weinstein, co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company, will give a keynote address at MIPCOM on October 8, the opening day of this year’s market in Cannes. In the speech, Weinstein will unveil the new TV … Read More »

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Harvey Weinstein Helps FBI Foil $13M Extortion Plot: Actor Threatened To Kill Mogul’s Family

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday August 23, 2012 @ 9:59am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, FBI, Harvey Weinstein

I’ve confirmed that, while not named in any court papers, Harvey Weinstein is the “Connecticut resident and co-founder of a film studio” victimized by a struggling actor turned deadly serious … Read More »

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Toronto: Harvey Weinstein Emcees Closing Night Of TIFF Asian Summit

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday August 13, 2012 @ 10:56am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein
Mike Fleming

Toronto – The Toronto International Film Festival® today announced additional details for the TIFF Asian Film Summit, including an international guest list of notable industry experts and specialists as well as programming that explores the relationship between East and

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UPDATE: Obama Praises Anne Hathaway As “Best Thing” In ‘Dark Knight Rises’; Harvey Weinstein Praises Obama As “The Paul Newman Of Presidents” At Campaign Fundraiser

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday August 6, 2012 @ 6:00pm PDTTags: Aaron Sorkin, Anne Hathaway, Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood fundraisers, President Barack Obama 2012 Campaign

3RD UPDATE, 5:54 PM: President Barack Obama at a Hollywood-studded fundraiser tonight reviewed The Dark Knight Rises and Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman performance. “She’s spectacular. I got a chance to see Batman, and she was the best thing in it. That’s … Read More »

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘The Master’ Joins Venice Competition

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday July 30, 2012 @ 8:44am PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein, The Master, The Weinstein Company, Venice Film Festival
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master will join the competition roster at the Venice Film Festival, and it might well be part of the Toronto International Film Festival program as well. There has been speculation in recent weeks that The Master could have a Venice berth, but it was not among the films announced by festival organizers last week. I’m told that the film has now been locked, and that Harvey Weinstein will get a prime Saturday slot to launch it into the Oscar-season fray. It certainly ramps up the buzz factor at the festival, partly because critics finally get to decide for themselves how much the title character played by Philip Seymour Hoffman was influenced by L. Ron Hubbard and his formation of Scientology. Read More »

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Harvey Weinstein, Maker Of Violent Movies, Wants Filmmaker Summit On Violence In Movies

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday July 26, 2012 @ 8:51pm PDTTags: Harvey Weinstein, Quentin Tarantino

Harvey Weinstein tells the Huffington Post that Hollywood “can’t shirk our responsibility” for depicting violence. During yet another personal publicity push for one of his movies (French import The Intouchables), Weinstein acknowledged, ”It’s a question that I wrestle with all the time. … Read More »

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Harvey & Bob Weinstein To Receive Producers Guild Milestone Award

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday July 23, 2012 @ 8:43am PDTTags: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, PGA Awards, Producers Guild of America, The Weinstein Company

LOS ANGELES, CA (July 23, 2012) – The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today that legendary filmmakers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, co-founders and Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company, will be honored with the 2013 Milestone Award. The award will be presented to the Weinsteins at the 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The Milestone Award is the Guild’s highest honor recognizing an individual or team who has made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. In the past, the Producers Guild has paid tribute to such industry leaders as Clint Eastwood, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney, James Cameron, Ron Meyer and last year’s 2012 recipient Leslie Moonves, among others.

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Harvey Weinstein Shares Thoughts On Presidential Race on CBS

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday June 15, 2012 @ 10:32am PDTTags: CBS, Harvey Weinstein

Mogul Harvey Weinstein shared his thoughts on the Presidential race and discussed filmmaking today on CBS This Morning with co-hosts Charlie Rose and Erica Hill.

 

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TWC Acquiring U.S. On James Gray Pic; Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner Star

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday June 14, 2012 @ 6:34pm PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Harvey Weinstein, James Gray, Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE:The Weinstein Company is near a deal to acquire U.S. rights to an untitled period drama that James Gray wrote and directed, with Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Renner starring. Gray has completed the film, and The Weinstein Company … Read More »

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