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.jpg "Disney shuts doors on Miramax Studios")
Harvey and Bob Weinstein's movie company, Miramax Studios, has closed its doors for good after 31 years in the movie industry, according to Hollywood.com. The producer brothers founded the company in 1979. It became a leading distributor of independent films and was snapped up by the Walt Disney Company in 1993.
On Thursday, the firm's New York and Los Angeles offices closed for business after months of speculation surrounding the financial status of Miramax. Eighty employees have been let go and the future of six films has been left hanging in the Miramax vault, awaiting distribution.
Under the direction of the Weinsteins, the studio pumped out hit films such as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and The English Patient.
It was the independent, art-house studio that became a major industry player in the 1990s, courtesy of such Oscar-winning hits as Pulp Fiction and The English Patient. But there was no Hollywood-style happy ending for Miramax studios.
Miramax flourished as an independent distribution and production outfit, before becoming part of the Disney empire in 1993. The company scored with low-budget hits such as Clerks and sex, lies and videotape, helped launch the career of Quentin Tarantino, and scooped Oscars with the likes of The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love. The Weinstein brothers – who named the company after their parents Max and Miriam – quit to form the Weinstein Company in 2005.
During its heyday, Miramax was regarded as arguably the industry's most respected and influential production company. But in recent years its output has been downscaled by Disney, and its demise was predicted long before today's closure of its offices in LA. The six Miramax pictures that are currently awaiting distribution – including John Madden's The Debt and Last Night, starring Keira Knightley – now face an uncertain future.
On Thursday, the firm's New York and Los Angeles offices closed for business after months of speculation surrounding the financial status of Miramax. Eighty employees have been let go and the future of six films has been left hanging in the Miramax vault, awaiting distribution.
Under the direction of the Weinsteins, the studio pumped out hit films such as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and The English Patient.
It was the independent, art-house studio that became a major industry player in the 1990s, courtesy of such Oscar-winning hits as Pulp Fiction and The English Patient. But there was no Hollywood-style happy ending for Miramax studios.
Miramax flourished as an independent distribution and production outfit, before becoming part of the Disney empire in 1993. The company scored with low-budget hits such as Clerks and sex, lies and videotape, helped launch the career of Quentin Tarantino, and scooped Oscars with the likes of The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love. The Weinstein brothers – who named the company after their parents Max and Miriam – quit to form the Weinstein Company in 2005.
During its heyday, Miramax was regarded as arguably the industry's most respected and influential production company. But in recent years its output has been downscaled by Disney, and its demise was predicted long before today's closure of its offices in LA. The six Miramax pictures that are currently awaiting distribution – including John Madden's The Debt and Last Night, starring Keira Knightley – now face an uncertain future.
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