Harvey Weinstein's Advice for Filmmakers
Watch his interview on "Real Biz With Rebecca Jarvis."
— -- The best advice sometimes comes along when you least expect it.
Such was the case for Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company, co-founder of Miramax, and one of the most influential film producers and studio executives in Hollywood -- credited with classics like “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
Before breaking into the film industry, Weinstein started in the music industry, independently producing and promoting rock concerts with his younger brother Bob.
During a recent interview on "Real Biz With Rebecca Jarvis," Weinstein shared how a single conversation early in his career while working with Paul McCartney helped lay the foundation for his entire film empire.
“I’ll never forget, his brother-in-law and his father-in-law talking to me one day about what a publishing company is and how you own rights to publishing,” Weinstein tells ABC News Chief Business, Technology and Economics Correspondent Rebecca Jarvis. “And I just said, ‘Hmm, that same thing can apply to us?’ As we grew successful, just so that we can buy libraries, we can buy films, we can put them in a library and curate the library. So that came from Paul McCartney.”
The film library -- with rights to over 700 films that include Oscar winners such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Good Will Hunting" and “No Country for Old Men,” among many others -- turned out to be one of the most valuable pieces of Miramax. Weinstein sold Miramax to Disney in 1993 but continued running the business with his brother. Miramax was resold in 2010 for a reported $660 million that included the film library. Netflix renewed a deal with Miramax earlier this year to use those films, making up about 10 percent of the available movies on the streaming service.
For more insights from Weinstein, including his work with Lexus Short Films and his advice to young filmmakers, watch his episode of "Real Biz With Rebecca Jarvis," and follow @RebeccaJarvis on Facebook for more live interviews like this one.
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