Weintraub Entertainment Group

Last updated
Weintraub Entertainment Group
Company typePrivate corporation
Industry Motion picture
FoundedJuly 1, 1986;38 years ago (1986-07-01)
Founder Jerry Weintraub
DefunctSeptember 30, 1990;33 years ago (1990-09-30)
FateBankruptcy
SuccessorsCompany:
Columbia Pictures
Library:
Sony Pictures
(through Columbia Pictures; through Sony Pictures Classics for The Big Blue )
Paramount Pictures
(through Melange Pictures)
(television and online streaming rights excluding The Big Blue)
StudioCanal
(through Lumiere Pictures and Television)
(Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment library only)
Key people
Jerry Weintraub, Chair/CEO
Kenneth Kleinberg, president/COO [1]
Andrew Susskind, TV president [2]
Productsfilms
Servicesdistribution
Owner The Coca-Cola Company
US Tobacco Company [3]
Columbia Pictures (15%; 1987–1989)
Warner Bros. (15%; 1989–1990) [4]

Weintraub Entertainment Group (WEG) was a film production company considered to be a mini-major studio founded by Jerry Weintraub. [1]

Contents

History

Weintraub Entertainment Group was formed on July 1, 1986 by Jerry Weintraub. [3] In February 1987, WEG received $461 million in financing from Columbia Pictures, Cineplex Odeon and others in the form of securities, bank loans and advances. [1] The Coca-Cola Company and US Tobacco Company were principal investors. [3] WEG also arranged a $145-million, 7-year credit line with the Bank of America. WEG also signed a 20-year distribution deal with Columbia and planned to release seven or eight movies per year. [1]

In March 1987, WEG signed its first production and distribution deal, a three-year agreement with Robert Stigwood's RSO Films for multiple films budgeted in the $12-million to $15-million range. [5] With Stigwood's partnership, WEG was to finance a film version of Evita with Oliver Stone as writer/director and Meryl Streep as Eva Perón. However, the studio dropped the project. [6]

WEG purchased from The Cannon Group in May 1987 its 2,000-title British film library, [7] the Thorn-EMI Screen Entertainment library, for $85 million with $50 million from a loan. [1] On July 20, Harry Usher joined the Group as President of the Weintraub International Enterprises division and as a senior vice president. [8]

In January 1988, Barney Rosenzweig was hired as chairman of the television unit, corporate vice president and a member of the executive committee. [9] In July, the Bank of America terminated its credit line with Weintraub after difficulties in syndicating parts of the loan to other banks due to the Thorn-EMI loan. [1] The Group's first release was The Big Blue in August; it grossed $1.6 million the opening weekend. [10]

In January 1989, Usher left his position as President of the Weintraub International Enterprises. [11] The Bank of America and WEG established a new credit line for two years and $95 million with Credit Lyonnais participating. [1]

In 1989, as a result of Sony/Columbia hiring Peter Guber and Jon Peters away from Warner Bros., Sony/Columbia traded its 15% share in WEG. [4]

In September 1990, WEG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Later that month, Jerry Weintraub left the company and forged a deal with Warner Bros., while Columbia still remained indebted to releasing WEG films. [12]

Film Asset Holding Co., a company formed by WEG's two primary bank creditors, sued Weintraub over his structuring of a sale of the Peter Pan story to Sony Pictures Entertainment in the fall of 1990. Weintraub and Film Assets settled in January 1992. [13]

In August 1998, a jury verdict for $7 million was lost by Bear Stearns Cos. to investors who had been misled by the brokerage's $83 million bond issue prospectus for the now-bankrupt Weintraub Entertainment Group. [14]

Production/release library

After the company shut down its assets were reorganized into the WEG Acquisition Corp, and are currently held by Sony, while the television rights are controlled by Paramount Pictures and under license to Trifecta Entertainment.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Pictures</span> American film production and distribution company

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., commonly known as Columbia Pictures, is an American film production and distribution company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.

Arista Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music Group, the North American division of German conglomerate Bertelsmann. Founded in November 1974 by Clive Davis and deactivated in 2011, Arista was re-established in 2018. Along with RCA Records, Columbia Records, and Epic Records, it is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels.

Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Television. It was founded by Irwin Molasky, Merv Adelson, and Lee Rich. The company's name was a portmanteau of the name of Adelson's then wife, Lori, and Palomar Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major film studios</span> United States film production and distribution companies with high output

Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often known simply as the majors or the Big Five studios, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85% of U.S. box office revenue. The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loews Cineplex Entertainment</span> American theater chain

Loews Cineplex Entertainment, also known as Loews Incorporated, was an American theater chain operating in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TriStar Pictures</span> American film studio

TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is a corporate sibling of fellow Sony studio, Columbia Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cannon Group, Inc.</span> Film studio

The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested heavily in the video market, buying the international video rights to several classic film libraries. Some of their best known films include Joe (1970), Runaway Train (1985) and Street Smart (1987), all of which were Oscar-nominated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolco Pictures</span> Defunct US independent film production company

Carolco Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film studio that existed from 1976 to 1995, founded by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna. Kassar and Vajna ran Carolco together until 1989, when Vajna left to form Cinergi Pictures. Carolco hit its peak in the 1980s and early 1990s, with blockbuster successes including the first three films of the Rambo franchise, Field of Dreams, Total Recall, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Basic Instinct, Universal Soldier, Cliffhanger and Stargate. Nevertheless, the company was losing money overall and required a corporate restructuring in 1992. The 1995 film Cutthroat Island, intended to be a comeback for the studio, instead lost $147 million and brought the company to an end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sony Pictures</span> American television and film studio

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment through multiple platforms. Through an intermediate holding company called Sony Film Holding Inc., it is operated as a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., which is itself a subsidiary of the multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Pictures Television</span> American content company

Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems (SG) and the third name of Pioneer Telefilms. For 26 years, the company was active from 1974 until New Year's Day 2001, when it was folded into Columbia TriStar Television, a merger between Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television. A separate entity of CPT continues to exist on paper as an intellectual property holder, and under the moniker "CPT Holdings" to hold the copyright for the TV show The Young and the Restless, as well as old incarnations from the company's television library such as What's Happening!!

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sony Corporation of America</span> American subsidiary of Japans Sony corporation

The Sony Corporation of America is the American arm of the Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. Headquartered in New York City, the company manages Sony's business in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Weintraub</span> American film producer (1937–2015)

Jerome Charles Weintraub was an American film producer, talent manager and actor whose television films won him three Emmys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ELP Communications</span> American television production company

ELP Communications was an American television production company that originally began in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sony Pictures Home Entertainment</span> Home video distribution division of Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony.

Canal+ Image International was a British-French film, television, animation studio and distributor. A former subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief connection with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Anglo-EMI, the division under Nat Cohen, and the later company as part of the Thorn EMI conglomerate are outlined here.

<i>Evita</i> (1996 film) 1996 American musical film

Evita is a 1996 American musical-historical film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name produced by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, which also inspired a 1978 musical. The film depicts the life of Eva Perón, detailing her beginnings, rise to fame, political career and death at the age of 33. Directed by Alan Parker, and written by Parker and Oliver Stone, Evita stars Madonna as Eva, Jonathan Pryce as Eva's husband Juan Perón, and Antonio Banderas as Ché, an everyman who acts as the film's narrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group</span> Sony Pictures Entertainment division

The Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operations. It was launched in 1998 by integrating the businesses of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and TriStar Pictures, Inc.

Sidney Jay Sheinberg was an American businessman, lawyer and entertainment executive. He served as president and CEO of MCA Inc. and Universal Studios for over 40 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legendary Entertainment</span> American film studio

Legendary Entertainment, LLC is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull. The company has often collaborated with the major studios, including Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Since 2016, Legendary has been a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group and American equity firm Apollo.

Amy Pascal is an American film producer and business executive. She served as the Chairperson of the Motion Pictures Group of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Co-Chairperson of SPE, including Sony Pictures Television, from 2006 until 2015. She has overseen the production and distribution of many films and television programs, and was co-chairperson during the 2014 Sony Pictures hack. The leak uncovered multiple emails from Pascal which were deemed racist including racial jokes aimed at then-President Barack Obama. She left Sony and Pascal later admitted that she was fired from the company.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cieply, Michael (January 11, 1989). "Weintraub's Worries : Box-Office Flops Add to Woes of Flashy 'Mini-Major'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  2. "People: Los Angeles County". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Cannon sells its Film Library". New Straits Times. Reuter. April 5, 1987. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  4. 1 2 Dick, Bernard F. (1992). Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio. University Press of Kentucky. p. 56. ISBN   9780813132785.
  5. "Weintraub Entertainment and RSO reached a pact". Los Angeles Times. March 27, 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  6. Greeberg, James (19 November 1989). "Is It Time Now to Cry for 'Evita'?". The New York Times.
  7. Knoedelseder Jr., William K. (August 7, 1987). "Cannon Group Loses $9.9 Million in Quarter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  8. "Usher Named Division Head at Weintraub". Los Angeles Times. July 12, 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  9. Delugach, Al (February 1, 1988). "Weintraub Taps Rosenzweig as TV Unit Chief". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  10. Voland, John (August 23, 1988). "WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : Freddy Shreds the Movie Competition". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  11. "Harry Usher Joins Executive Search Firm". Los Angeles Times. ASSOCIATED PRESS. January 7, 1989. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  12. Cieply, Michael (September 14, 1990). "Weintraub Is Expected to File Chapter 11 : Entertainment: The film firm seeks to cut off bondholders' action". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  13. Citron, Alan (January 18, 1992). "Creditors Agree With Weintraub to Settle Lawsuit : * Film: Two banks had accused the producer of taking an unwarranted $748,000 in developing 'Hook". latimes.com. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  14. "Bear Stearns Misled Its Investors, Jury Finds". Los Angeles Times. Bloomberg News. August 25, 1998. Retrieved 2 July 2012.