Everyone’s talking about and dissecting the New York Times massive marathon feature on the Weinstein brothers called, “Weinsteins Struggle to Regain Their Touch.” The mammoth article is just shy of 5,000 words, and basically centers on The Weinstein Company’s recent money issues, their failures and successes since they began and if the two moguls can regain their footing.
The key quote seems to come from Harvey Weinstein himself and is framed in a way that says, if there are no upcoming hits, the company is likely toast.
“The ship’s riding on the slate,” Harvey Weinstein said. “If by February, when we release ‘Hoodwinked 2’ ” — he playfully thumps a hand on the table, dramatizing the sound of failure — “I’ll be driving you, or making cheap hamburgers, or selling trailers, or refrigerators, or something. If the slate works, we’re right back to plan.”
Much of the article chronicles how the recent box-office failures of the companies were seemingly because Harvey’s focus on film waned and he unwisely ventured into other areas (social media, fashion sites) that didn’t help out the companies bottom dollar.
Weinstien himself admits as much. “What happened was, I got more fascinated by these other businesses and I figured, ‘Making movies, I can do that in my sleep. I kind of delegated the process of production and acquisitions. Yes, I had a say in it, but was I 100 percent concentrating? Absolutely not. I thought I could build the company and delegate authority, and that’s where it went wrong.”
Can the company survive its doldrums especially in this difficult film climate? Even former Weinstein booster Kevin Smith got in on the action with some fairly juicy quotes about where they went wrong.
“The old Harvey would never would have made those kinds of mistakes,” Smith said, noting how Harvey embarrassingly introduced Traci Lords (one of the co-stars of Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”) to the director as another actress. “He just wasn’t as present, he wasn’t minding the farm, so to speak. [The Weinstein bros.] had impeccable taste when they were hungry. The problem is that they’re not really hungry anymore. They’re starving and desperate.”
It’s a long-ass article, but worth a read when you get a moment.