Disney splits with the Weinsteins

It is the divorce all Hollywood has been waiting for. After 12 years of extraordinary productivity, the Weinstein brothers of Miramax and their corporate parent, the Walt Disney Company, have called it quits.

Harvey and Bob Weinstein will at last be free to pursue their dream of building a multi-media company without having to worry about Disney's commitment to "family values" and the corporate bottom line. Disney, meanwhile, will keep the Miramax name and the Oscar-studded library of Miramax titles.

The tensions between the two partners have been an almost constant source of material for the trade press over the past few years. Harvey Weinstein found it almost impossible to contain his frustration at the tight leash wielded by Disney's obsessively micro-managerial chief executive, Michael Eisner.

They fought over the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which ended up being produced elsewhere, they fought over Martin Scorsese's expensive epic Gangs of New York, and they fought over Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, which Miramax produced but Disney refused to distribute.

 

For the first several years, the tension reaped remarkable creative rewards with a string of lauded films, including Pulp Fiction, The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love which turned Miramax into a virtual Oscar-winning machine.

More recently the Weinsteins bridled at their budgetary constraints, set at US$700 million ($975 million) a year, at the limits on their personal compensation, at Disney's worries about content, and at their limited room for getting into new ventures. As Eisner's position at Disney became dicey the brothers figured they would do better to raise their finances independently.

The divorce has gone ahead even though Eisner is no longer a factor. Earlier this month, he announced he would step down as Disney chief executive in October, leaving his number two, the former head of ABC television, Bob Iger, to take his place.

Iger has taken a number of steps to smooth relations with the Weinsteins, and Disney may help with financing as many as 25 future Weinstein productions.

The Weinsteins' new venture, tentatively called either the New Company or the Weinstein Company, will start with US$130 million ($181 million) in Disney money granted as part of the settlement. That figure will go down the more the brothers turn to Iger for financing of their productions.

- INDEPENDENT