And while the mechanisms that determine stardom are obscure at best, there are certain qualities that allow companies like Miramax to endure. If the Imploding Starlet Syndrome holds, then 1999 should have been the beginning of a long, slow fade for Miramax: It had served its purpose its moment was past.īut that is unlikely to happen: For every 99 starlets who retire to an NBC sitcom and a lifetime of dinner theater, there is a Julia Roberts. Last year, Miramax saw its profits drop to $85 million, from $125 million in 1998. And Talk magazine, a high-profile joint venture between Miramax and Hearst Magazines, has been bedeviled by bad press and staff defections. The company launched a TV division, only to see its first show, Wasteland, disappear after just three airings. Meanwhile, new Miramax ventures generated reams of bad press. For its part, Miramax released a lineup of mostly lackluster films, from Music of the Heart to Happy, Texas (the movie Miramax bought instead of Blair Witch at last year's Sundance Film Festival). The smaller upstarts that Miramax helped spawn had an exceptionally good year, led by Artisan Entertainment's smash hit The Blair Witch Project at the same time, the studios released movies like Election and The Sixth Sense, directed by people who got their start at Miramax. Last year some signs of the difficulty of maintaining this balance appeared. What this means is that Miramax's job has become far more difficult, since it must now compete with the smaller indies for up-and-coming talent and with the studios to retain the people it has discovered. Their success is also reflected in the releases of the major studios, as the large movie companies have cherry-picked the talent the Weinsteins discovered. They have also positioned their company smack-dab at the center of pop culture: Miramax released many of the past decade's touchstones, from Pulp Fiction to The English Patient to Scream.īut Bob and Harvey Weinstein have not simply built one movie company-they have, inadvertently, helped build or expand half a dozen more, as their success has prompted other companies to try their hand at independent film. Through will power, uncanny taste, and a knack for showmanship, the brothers have built their tiny firm into a highly profitable subsidiary of Walt Disney Co. Certainly, the company has had a staggering amount of success: At its inception 20 years ago, it consisted of two brothers, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, with almost no money and even less experience in the movie business. It is especially true, in light of recent events, for Miramax Films. This rule applies not only to actors: It is also true for directors and producers and writers. The point is that while failure in Hollywood may be hard, success is even harder. Let us call this Imploding Starlet Syndrome. The media and the public turn on her-make fun of her earlier movies, decide they never liked her very much in the first place, and determine that she is talentless and full of herself. She makes one rotten movie, or maybe two. And then, 99 times out of 100, she stumbles. Casting agents begin to look for the next one of her, and five clones crop up to take the roles that she's rejected. She appears on the cover of, say, Vanity Fair, wearing very little, next to a headline that is a pun on her first name. (FORTUNE Magazine) – Every once in a while a young actress comes along who seems to have everything: good looks, talent, a killer smile.
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