The Weinstein Company

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum



Background

Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded The Weinstein Company (TWC) on March 10, 2005, after leaving Miramax Films that same year. After the departure, the Weinsteins retained ownership of Dimension Films. Until 2008, most of The Weinstein Company's films were primarily distributed and marketed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, after which TWC intermittently distributed alone or produced with other studios.

On October 5, 2017, The New York Times published an editorial stating that over 60 women in the media industry accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, including the use of "casting couch" practices, with rumors spanning as far back as 19 years.[1] On October 8, TWC announced that Weinstein had been dismissed from the company; prior to his firing, four members of the board of directors resigned, while Weinstein said that he had taken an indefinite leave of absence. The allegations, Weinstein's dismissal, and major backlash in the media, combined with the poor performance of TWC's then-released films, eventually led to the company declaring bankruptcy on March 19, 2018. Weinstein subsequently pled guilty and was sentenced to 23 years in prison in March 2020, and later for an additional 16 years in February 2023, for a total of 39 years in prison.

To raise funds, TWC sold the rights to Paddington 2, In the Heights and The Six Billion Dollar Man to Warner Bros. In May 2018, Lantern Capital won the studio's bankruptcy auction, and on July 16, they absorbed TWC's 277-film library into a new company called Lantern Entertainment, with the rights to a majority of their films later being sold to Lionsgate Films. Later that year, TWC's library was transferred to Spyglass Media Group, which Lantern has a majority stake in.

In 2019, Bob Weinstein formed Watch This Entertainment, and brought in former Dimension Films executive Pantea Ghaderi as President of Creative Development.

Logo (November 11, 2005-September 1, 2017)


Visuals: On a black background, two spotlights morph to form three lights from one light above, forming an abstract "W". While that happens, the text "THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY" (in the Engravers Gothic font) fades in at the bottom of the three lights. Afterwards, the lights disappear one at a time with the company name fading last.

Variants:

  • Some films' closing credits have the logo with different lighting and plain text.
  • Sometimes, the text reads "TWC" instead of the company's full name.
  • On Hoodwinked!, the logo is still.
  • The U.S. release of Arthur and the Invisibles has the logo squashed up.
  • On Derailed, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and The Ex (which uses the "TWC" variant), the logo is filmed.

Technique: CGI by Kelly Carlton at Intralink Film Graphic Design.

Audio: An orchestrated piece composed by Nicole Weinstein (daughter of Bob) that fades out when the logo fades. Otherwise, the logo is silent, or has the opening theme of the film. The closing variant has the tail-end of the end credits music playing over or none.

Audio Variants:

  • The U.S. release of The Magic Roundabout (Doogal) has a different orchestral tune composed by James L. Venable playing over the logo. This version's theme also has some similarities to the music for the 4th Image Entertainment logo.
  • On Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight (both directed by Quentin Tarantino), a different piece with light switch sounds is heard. This was also composed by Nicole Weinstein.

Availability: Seen on all films from the company from Derailed to Tulip Fever.

  • This logo does not appear on Space Chimps, as that uses an in-credit notice and it was distributed by 20th Century Fox in the U.S. instead.
  • This logo also plastered the aforementioned logo on the U.S. release of The Iron Lady (2011), as Fox distributed the film in the UK.
  • It is also preserved on their DVD reissues of a couple of Miramax films, such as Cinema Paradiso and The Thief and the Cobbler, preceding the Miramax Films and Miramax Family Films logos, respectively.
  • It is also seen on the U.S. release of Leo the Lion.
  • Following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the company stopped releasing movies, and this logo has since been retired due to the company's bankruptcy and to distance the films from the scandal.
    • Current prints have slowly begun plastering this logo over with the 2013 Lionsgate logo for films they currently distribute, though for the most part it's usually preceded by Lantern's logo. Some Lionsgate owned Weinstein Company films, such as The Young and the Prodigious T.S. Spivet and Trick or Treaters, still have this logo intact.
  • Even though this logo was seen on its theatrical release, it does not appear on the Lionsgate DVD release of Leap! for obvious reasons; in fact, they aren't even mentioned at all on the DVD cover art.
  • This logo was also originally seen on the original pre-theatrical prints of Wind River (2017).
    • However, it does not appear on the Academy Awards screening due to the same reasons above.[2]

References

The Weinstein Company
Lantern Entertainment
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