The Weinstein Company Launches Video On-Demand Label

Sep 6, 2011 by Brian Gallagher

The Weinstein Company forms new VOD labelThe Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that Tom Quinn and Jason Janego have joined forces with TWC Co-Chairmen Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein to create a new TWC label to bring new films and other specialty entertainment to audiences simultaneously across multiple digital and traditional platforms. Quinn and Janego will serve as Co-Presidents of the yet-to-be named label, which will be based in New York. The announcement was made by TWC COO David Glasser.

Quinn and Janego were among the first in the film industry to explore the potential of emerging digital platforms and were in the vanguard of developing new strategies for alternative distribution during their tenures at Magnolia Pictures, where they were Senior Vice President and Head of Legal & Business Affairs, respectively. In 2005, Magnolia became one of the first distributors to implement the day/date releasing, premiering Steven Soderbergh's Bubble and Alex Gibney's Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room simultaneously in select theaters and on DVD. Over the next several years they expanded on the premium VOD/theatrical platform model with such films as James Gray's Two Lovers, Neil Marshall's Centurion, Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins, Alex Gibney's Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer and Freakonomics, the documentary based on the bestseller, enabling these specialty and independent releases to compete alongside studio content.

The new label makes TWC the first studio to premiere select titles across multiple platforms via immediate-access digital and traditional media and will bring TWC's unique, high-quality films to larger audiences than ever before. As Co-Presidents, Quinn and Janego will develop content and distribution strategies that move beyond the on-demand model, with a goal of establishing the new label as a marquee destination. Quinn and Janego will oversee acquisitions, productions and distribution of label content. Both will report to Harvey and Bob Weinstein and David Glasser in New York.

Quinn and Janego will be on-site at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival to begin scouting titles for the fledgling label. It is anticipated that the label will release its debut title in the first half of 2012.

Said Quinn and Janego, "Our experience in digital distribution has been eye-opening and inspiring; we see it as a new frontier for studios and for independent filmmakers of every stripe. It makes perfect sense that the godfathers of modern independent cinema, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, would be the first studio chiefs to launch a business dedicated to these new platforms, and we are thrilled to be working alongside them in this new venture. We can't wait to get going."

Commented Harvey and Bob Weinstein, "It's an exciting time in filmmaking; technology has made film a more democratic medium than ever, for artists and audiences. There are just so many great movies being made all over the world, and the new digital platforms make it possible for more people than ever to see them. We are thrilled about launching this new label with Tom and Jason at the helm: not only are they innovators with a deep understanding of all things digital, they're two guys who love movies like we do. In a lot of ways, this label is an expansion on the work we've been doing for more than 20 years, and with Tom and Jason aboard we think it will chart a path into the future."

Added Glasser, "My tenure with TWC has coincided with seismic changes in the cinema landscape, particularly with respect to the digital revolution and the advent of new platforms for watching movies. Our new label represents a forward-thinking approach to an evolving marketplace, and is a natural step for us as a studio built on specialty films. Perhaps most importantly, it's a realistic and exciting way to grow TWC as a studio while staying true to the love of film that is so strong in Harvey and Bob, and in our new partners, Tom and Jason."

Previously, Quinn spent more than seven years at Magnolia Pictures as SVP and Head of Acquisitions. He created Magnet Releasing, Magnolia's genre arm, the Six Shooter Series, as well as the annual Oscar Shorts Program. He's acquired and distributed over 100 films including Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, Man on Wire, The Host, The World's Fastest Indian, Jesus Camp, Let the Right One in, and Woman Thou Art Loosed. His recent films include: Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times, Melancholia, 13 Assassins, Hobo with a Shotgun, Trollhunter, FREAKONOMICS, Centurion, I Am Love, Monsters, and Food, Inc.. His productions include: Outrage, Cocaine Cowboys, Splinter, and The ABCs of Death. Quinn is also a programmer, having worked for Philadelphia, Atlanta, Woodstock, and ActionFest, a festival he was instrumental in creating. Prior to joining Magnolia, he was at Samuel Goldwyn for seven years, eventually becoming VP of Acquisitions, where he was responsible for acquiring Raising Victor Vargas and Super Size Me. Quinn's first industry job was working in domestic film publicity for Nancy Willen at Dennis Davidson Associates.

Prior to joining TWC, Janego had his own consultancy and legal practice focusing on the development of innovative strategies for the production, financing and distribution of content in all areas of the entertainment business. In his career as an executive, lawyer, consultant, and producer's representative, Janego has been involved with over 250 films. Previously, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Big Beach Films, a New York-based production company whose credits include Away We Go, Is Anybody There? and Sunshine Cleaning. Before joining Big Beach, Janego was Head of Business & Legal Affairs for Magnolia Pictures, Magnolia Home Entertainment, and Landmark Theatres, all of which are subsidiaries of the vertically integrated media company Wagner/Cuban Entertainment. Janego has also worked at Miramax Films and with the film sales company Cinetic Media. Earlier in his career, he was employed as an attorney in the legal department of the NBC television network and with Artemis Records. He also serves on the Committee on Film at the Museum of Modern Art.

Sources: The Weinstein Company

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The Company Men Blu-ray and DVD Debuts June 7th

May 16, 2011 by Brian Gallagher

Director John Wells' critically-acclaimed drama The Company Men will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 7. The standard DVD will be priced at $29.98 SRP, while the Blu-ray will cost $39.99 SRP. You can take a look at the cover artwork and special features details below.

In The Company Men, Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is living the American Dream, until he is stunned to find himself the latest casualty of corporate downsizing. Suddenly, Bobby - along with his co-workers Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) - is forced to re-evaluate his self-worth as a husband, as a father, and as a man. For as long as he can remember, he's given his life to his job. Now, with only the love of his wife and family, it's time to take his life back.

With humor, pathos, and keen observation, writer-director John Wells introduces us to the new realities of American life, as The Company Men fight to regain their dignity and transcend their situations. An astute exploration of the human spirit, the film portrays the struggles of individuals at every level of the economic ladder as they try to reconnect with the things that matter most in life, and re-establish a sense of identity separate from their jobs.

The Company Men was released January 21st, 2011 and stars Ben Affleck, Thomas Kee, Craig Mathers, Gary Galone, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Suzanne Rico, Adrianne Krstansky. The film is directed by John Wells.

Sources: Anchor Bay Home Entertainment

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New on DVD - June 7, 2011 - True Grit and The Company Men

Chris Barsanti has been a Filmcritic reviewer since 2002. So there.The Wild West and the long unemployment line: Jeff Bridges redefines grizzled in the Coen brothers' True Grit remake, while Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Affleck head up an all-American cast in the Great Recession drama The Company Men. These and other cinematic items ranging from a Korean psychosexual thriller (The Housemaid) to the new Mike Leigh (Another Year) and yet another Adam Sandler film (Just Go With It) are coming this week to DVD and Blu-ray.

True Grit
Having showed that they knew their way around the grit and tussle of Texas and guns and evil deeds in No Country for Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen took another break from their signature snark to serve up this adaptation of Charles Portis's Western novel, previously filmed in 1969 with John Wayne. Jeff Bridges straps on the spurs to play Rooster Cogburn, a drunken old bounty hunter who helps a teenage girl find the man who murdered her father. The film was nominated for ten Oscars. Our critic called it an "old-fashioned, classically told Cowboy Movie -- and a darned good one."

The Company Men
John Wells's unfairly ignored recession drama tracks the spiritual and physical toll that a massive layoff at a Massachusetts shipbuilder takes on both the fired and the lucky survivors, while also delivering a critique of villainously uncaring 21st-century management. Ben Affleck heads up a strong cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Costner, and Chris Cooper. Our critic was lukewarm in his praise, writing that the "actors make the film worth seeing but its 106 minutes of super-soap-operatic crises drag on."

Another Year
In this Oscar-nominated ensemble drama from Britain's Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky), he presents four seasons in the life of a preposterously happy and well-adjusted couple -- Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) -- who let all manner of wastrels into their lives, from Tom's somnambulistic brother to Gerri's manic mess of a co-worker (Lesley Manville). "Another Year doesn't land with Leigh's best work and inarguably leans on some of his standby moves," our critic wrote, "but everything here is produced with genuine feeling and unerring wisdom."

The Housemaid
In Korean filmmaker Sang-soo Im's perverse thriller, a somewhat clueless young housemaid goes to work for a fantastically rich and cold-blooded couple, catching the eye of the husband and inspiring the jealousy of the pregnant wife. It all begins as eroticized Hitchcock and ends up somewhere south of French art-house surrealism, dashed with more than a little Harold Pinter. Our writer appreciated Im's balancing of "ferocious melodrama" and "bold, sumptuous direction."

Just Go With It
Adam Sandler plays a plastic surgeon with a penchant for pretending to be married in order to pick up women. The still-working Jennifer Aniston plays his assistant, who agrees to be his fake wife so that Sandler can pick up a Sports Illustrated model in the guise of an actress. The result "isn't entirely evil," according to our critic, who, after noting the film's "nasty jokes" and "heinous narration track," nevertheless concluded that it is ultimately a "sneaky little charmer."

American: The Bill Hicks Story
The controversial comedian Bill Hicks (1961-1994) receives an elegiac tribute in a documentary that features a wealth of archival footage and interviews with friends and family. Although our critic didn't care for the film's overly positive tone (the "sort of blatant whitewashing and aversion to tough subjects that Hicks would decry as cowardice"), he thought it remained a "well-produced, visually buoyant ode made by two fans and ready-made for Hicks's preexisting fan base."

Carancho
With a title that translates as "vulture," this Argentine drama centers on an ambulance chaser (Ricardo Darín) who's trying to get out of his bottom-feeding life but gets sucked in deeper after starting a bad-idea relationship with a drug-addicted ambulance driver (Martina Gusman). Our critic thought that director Pablo Trapero's work here brought a "tight and moody" feel to some "derivative" material.

When We Leave
In Feo Aladag's affecting debut film, a Turkish woman and her son escape from her abusive husband in Istanbul. Fleeing to Berlin, she finds not refuge but even more punishment and abuse from a tightly knit community. Our critic enjoyed the film's ability to elevate the "characters and story above the two-dimensional stereotypes that are usually littered throughout most dramas of tradition, especially those dealing with the Muslim faith," but thought the film was "sadly hampered" by its concluding tragedy.

Sanctum
Anybody who went to the movies during a period of about six months in 2010 saw the trailer for this James Cameron-produced 3-D film a minimum of ten times, and it still didn't look interesting. Supposedly based on a true story, it's about a group of explorers who go spelunking in an impossibly deep cave in New Guinea and get stuck in the cave. We termed the whole clichéd mess "Neil Marshall's Descent without the albino cannibals running around eating the cast -- though such flesh feasting would be a welcome respite from the ridiculousness on hand."

Rubber
You think that's just a tire rolling down the road in Quentin Dupieux's highly strange nightmare allegory of a film? Nope, it's a tire that has telekinetic powers and uses them to go on a killing spree. Such a gonzo exercise in strange could have been its own reward but for the director's desire to wrap all of it in a ponderous film-within-a-film package that sucks much of the joy out of it and, according to our writer, "shows about as much respect for the audience's intellect as an adult might show a drunken toddler fidgeting with a blowtorch."

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The Company Men Blu-ray and DVD Debuts June 7th

May 16, 2011 by Brian Gallagher

Director John Wells' critically-acclaimed drama The Company Men will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 7. The standard DVD will be priced at $29.98 SRP, while the Blu-ray will cost $39.99 SRP. You can take a look at the cover artwork and special features details below.

In The Company Men, Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is living the American Dream, until he is stunned to find himself the latest casualty of corporate downsizing. Suddenly, Bobby - along with his co-workers Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) - is forced to re-evaluate his self-worth as a husband, as a father, and as a man. For as long as he can remember, he's given his life to his job. Now, with only the love of his wife and family, it's time to take his life back.

With humor, pathos, and keen observation, writer-director John Wells introduces us to the new realities of American life, as The Company Men fight to regain their dignity and transcend their situations. An astute exploration of the human spirit, the film portrays the struggles of individuals at every level of the economic ladder as they try to reconnect with the things that matter most in life, and re-establish a sense of identity separate from their jobs.

The Company Men was released January 21st, 2011 and stars Ben Affleck, Thomas Kee, Craig Mathers, Gary Galone, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Suzanne Rico, Adrianne Krstansky. The film is directed by John Wells.

Sources: Anchor Bay Home Entertainment

View the original article here