The End of Miramax

So, Disney have announced they are closing Miramax. After two decades of fighting for independent and world cinema, one of the greatest and most successful studios of recent time. As Empire magazine have said Miramax is in many ways The House That Quentin Built, but its important to realise that it was Harvey and Larry Weinstein who took the risk (well maybe risk is to strong a word) on Reservoir Dogs, letting an unknown movie geek, directed a heist film with no heist, starring some of the best actors around at the time.
It was also the Weinstein's who stuck with Tarantino allowing him to indulge himself and direct genius films such as Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown, but also Kill Bill and Gindhouse, both films which could have been disatrous for both the studio and Tarantino. (NB. I realise Grindhouse was a disaster but they still let him make it).

Then there is Kevin Smith, the indie kid who delivered Clerks on a shoestring and then sold it Miramax. The rest as they say is history, and although Kevin Smith has never managed to equal his success, his indy mentaility found a great home with Miramax, as did Steven Soderburgh whose sex, lies and videotape started the whole independent American cinema resurgence back in the early nineties.

There is also Dimension, the production company responsible for Scream, Sin City etc. And for most of the nineties, the Dimension logo before a film may not have guaranteed a great film, but did ensure an entertaining couple of hours.

The real benefit provided by Miramax though must have been what they did for world cinema. Films such as Life is Beautiful, Kieslowski's Colours trilogy and many others were pushed and given decent distribution, the success of which has drastically changed world cinema distribution in both the US and UK marketplace.

So, it may be the a good time to close down and waning studio, with the Weinsteins having sold it Disney and jumped ship but the studio reinvented cinema in more ways the one in the 90s and the benefits are still being felt today.

Still can't forgive them for Shakespeare in Love Oscar haul though. So not all good.