Welcome to the funeral folks.
Friends, business associates, countrymen, lend me your ears, and five bucks, because I got a cab outside waiting to get paid.
But seriously folks, we are here to mark the passing of a company that was both a blessing and a curse to the movies, especially independent film.
I'm talking about Miramax Films.
It was a blessing because it gave a place for filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith a place to develop their talent, and make films outside the studio system.
It was a curse because unless you were Tarantino, or Smith, you were pretty much screwed trying to deal with Miramax.
And let's not forget the money.
Miramax, with films like Pulp Fiction, showed that big money and major awards could be sucked out of indie movies, and soon everybody and their brother was jumping in the game. Mini-majors, faux-indie divisions, and other variations of the same theme jumped in head-first, many without the wisdom to know the difference between a film being independent and unwanted.
Soon independent cinema went from providing audiences what Hollywood wasn't giving them, to giving Hollywood what the audiences didn't really want.
While some think that the company will live on if its name is successfully transplanted to the Weinstein Co., but we all know, the spirit is gone, long gone.
So we now commend Miramax to the dustbin of movie history. He is survived by his half-siblings, Lionsgate, Sony Classics, Fox Searchlight, Focus Features, and IFC Films. He is predeceased by New Line/Fine Line/ Picturehouse, Warner Independent, Paramount Vantage, Polygram Filmed Entertainment and countless others.
Goodbye Miramax.
You'll be missed, but eventually replaced.
Friends, business associates, countrymen, lend me your ears, and five bucks, because I got a cab outside waiting to get paid.
But seriously folks, we are here to mark the passing of a company that was both a blessing and a curse to the movies, especially independent film.
I'm talking about Miramax Films.
It was a blessing because it gave a place for filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith a place to develop their talent, and make films outside the studio system.
It was a curse because unless you were Tarantino, or Smith, you were pretty much screwed trying to deal with Miramax.
And let's not forget the money.
Miramax, with films like Pulp Fiction, showed that big money and major awards could be sucked out of indie movies, and soon everybody and their brother was jumping in the game. Mini-majors, faux-indie divisions, and other variations of the same theme jumped in head-first, many without the wisdom to know the difference between a film being independent and unwanted.
Soon independent cinema went from providing audiences what Hollywood wasn't giving them, to giving Hollywood what the audiences didn't really want.
While some think that the company will live on if its name is successfully transplanted to the Weinstein Co., but we all know, the spirit is gone, long gone.
So we now commend Miramax to the dustbin of movie history. He is survived by his half-siblings, Lionsgate, Sony Classics, Fox Searchlight, Focus Features, and IFC Films. He is predeceased by New Line/Fine Line/ Picturehouse, Warner Independent, Paramount Vantage, Polygram Filmed Entertainment and countless others.
Goodbye Miramax.
You'll be missed, but eventually replaced.
No comments:
Post a Comment