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Weintraub Entertainment Group

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Weintraub Entertainment Group
TypePrivate corporation
IndustryMotion picture
FoundedJuly 1, 1986
FounderJerry Weintraub
DefunctSeptember 30, 1990 (1990-09-30)
FateBankruptcy
Successor
Key people
Jerry Weintraub, Chair/CEO
Kenneth Kleinberg, president/COO[1]
Andrew Susskind, TV president[2]
Productsfilms
Servicesdistribution
OwnerThe 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]

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]

Discover more about History related topics

Jerry Weintraub

Jerry Weintraub

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

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony.

Bank of America

Bank of America

The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, with investment banking and auxiliary headquarters in Manhattan. The bank was founded in San Francisco, California. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States, after JPMorgan Chase, and the second-largest bank in the world by market capitalization. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States. It serves approximately 10.73% of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking.

Evita (musical)

Evita (musical)

Evita is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and death.

Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone

William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of Midnight Express (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake Scarface (1983). Stone achieved prominence as writer and director of the war drama Platoon (1986), which won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture. Platoon was the first in a trilogy of films based on the Vietnam War, in which Stone served as an infantry soldier. He continued the series with Born on the Fourth of July (1989)—for which Stone won his second Best Director Oscar—and Heaven & Earth (1993). Stone's other works include the Salvadoran Civil War-based drama Salvador (1986); the financial drama Wall Street (1987) and its sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010); the Jim Morrison biographical film The Doors (1991); the satirical black comedy crime film Natural Born Killers (1994); a trilogy of films based on the American Presidency: JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), and W. (2008); and Snowden (2016).

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep

Mary Louise Streep is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including a record 21 Academy Award nominations, winning three, and a record 32 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning eight.

Eva Perón

Eva Perón

María Eva Duarte de Perón, better known as just Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita, was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 1946 until her death in July 1952, as the wife of Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón (1895–1974). She was born in poverty in the rural village of Los Toldos, in the Pampas, as the youngest of five children. In 1934, at the age of 15, she moved to the nation's capital of Buenos Aires to pursue a career as a stage, radio, and film actress.

EMI Films

EMI Films

EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A 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.

Harry Usher

Harry Usher

Harry Lester Usher was an American attorney who was the second and last commissioner of the United States Football League (USFL). He was also the executive vice president and general manager of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC), which oversaw the business operations of the 1984 Summer Olympics. His legal expertise was in entertainment law.

Barney Rosenzweig

Barney Rosenzweig

Barney Rosenzweig is an American television producer.

Jon Peters

Jon Peters

John H. Peters is an American film producer and former hairdresser.

Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code

Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code

Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most prominently used by corporate entities. In contrast, Chapter 7 governs the process of a liquidation bankruptcy, though liquidation may also occur under Chapter 11; while Chapter 13 provides a reorganization process for the majority of private individuals.

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.

Discover more about Production/release library related topics

The Big Blue

The Big Blue

The Big Blue is a 1988 drama film in the French Cinéma du look visual style, made by French director Luc Besson. It is a heavily fictionalized and dramatized story of the friendship and sporting rivalry between two leading contemporary champion free divers in the 20th century: Jacques Mayol and Enzo Maiorca, and Mayol's fictionalized relationship with his girlfriend Johana Baker.

Fresh Horses (film)

Fresh Horses (film)

Fresh Horses is a 1988 American coming-of-age drama film directed by David Anspaugh, and starring Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald.

My Stepmother Is an Alien

My Stepmother Is an Alien

My Stepmother Is an Alien is a 1988 American science fiction comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin. It stars Dan Aykroyd, Kim Basinger, Jon Lovitz, and Alyson Hannigan. The film follows the story of Celeste, an extraterrestrial woman who is sent on a secret mission to Earth, after her home planet's gravity is mistakenly disrupted by Steven Mills, a widowed scientist raising his daughter Jessie as a single father.

The Karen Carpenter Story

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The Karen Carpenter Story is an American made-for-television biographical film about singer Karen Carpenter and the brother-and-sister pop music duo of which she was a part, The Carpenters. The film aired on CBS on January 1, 1989. Directed by Joseph Sargent, it starred Cynthia Gibb as Karen Carpenter, and Mitchell Anderson as her brother, Richard Carpenter, who served as a producer for the film as well as of the musical score.

CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Global.

Listen to Me (film)

Listen to Me (film)

Listen to Me is a 1989 American drama film written and directed by Douglas Day Stewart. Released on May 5, 1989, it stars Kirk Cameron, Jami Gertz, and Roy Scheider. The film was largely shot on location in Malibu, California, including the campus of Pepperdine University.

She's Out of Control

She's Out of Control

She's Out of Control is a 1989 American independent coming of age comedy film directed by Stan Dragoti. Starring Tony Danza, Ami Dolenz and Catherine Hicks. The original music score was composed by Alan Silvestri. The film was marketed with the tagline "She was Daddy's little girl. Now she's at that age when girls go wild, guys go crazy and Dads go nuts". The film was shot with the working title Daddy's Little Girl.

Troop Beverly Hills

Troop Beverly Hills

Troop Beverly Hills is a 1989 American comedy film. It is produced by the Weintraub Entertainment Group and directed by Jeff Kanew, starring Shelley Long, Craig T. Nelson, Betty Thomas, Mary Gross, Stephanie Beacham and introducing Jenny Lewis as Hannah Nefler. The film features a host of young actors, including Carla Gugino, Kellie Martin, Emily Schulman, Ami Foster, and Tori Spelling.

The Gods Must Be Crazy II

The Gods Must Be Crazy II

The Gods Must Be Crazy II is a 1989 comedy film written and directed by Jamie Uys, and a sequel to the 1980 film The Gods Must Be Crazy, which Uys also wrote and directed. An international co-production between South Africa, Botswana and the United States, it was produced by the Weintraub Entertainment Group and released by 20th Century Fox on 13 October 1989. In the United States, it was released by Columbia Pictures on 13 April 1990.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global. It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States, and the sole member of the "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles.

Source: "Weintraub Entertainment Group", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 8th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weintraub_Entertainment_Group.

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Further Reading

Loews Cineplex Entertainment

TriStar Pictures

Hollywood Pictures

The Cannon Group, Inc.

Carolco Pictures

Sony Pictures

Columbia Pictures Television

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Sony Corporation of America

Jerry Weintraub

ELP Communications

Evita (1996 film)

Legendary Entertainment
References
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c "Cannon sells its Film Library". New Straits Times. Reuter. April 5, 1987. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  4. ^ a b 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.
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