Oh, the Weinsteins in their Act IV
What's to say about the world's greatest newspaper story, this account of Bob and Harvey Weinstein and What Went Horribly Wrong? It is soooo good. You should read it! The single most important thing, I think, is that it finally put on the record the old-fashioned way in which Miramax used to deal with reporters.
THE Weinsteins – Harvey is 57 year old, Bob is 54 – will not discuss how much money they have left in the bank, but just calling up and asking for an interview, you could get the impression they're running low. A few years ago, you'd barely have the receiver off your ear before public relations specialists would call to vigorously frisk you about your intentions. Your request for a sit-down would initially be denied, but if you persisted, you would eventually be summoned to Harvey's office, where he would praise your work and offer you some goodie – a book deal, for instance – if you wrote about something else.
Not now. The Weinstein Company doesn't keep the same phalanx of P.R. pros on retainer, lost perhaps in a downsizing that included an 11 percent staff cut last year.Once you get into Harvey's office, the most you can expect by way of enticing offers these days is a well-brewed cup of coffee.
That is VERY VERY TRUE.
The Weinsteins were the most interesting people in New York for a very long time. Each story about them was more fascinating and repellent than the last. It is sort of sad to watch them come into this new age in which they talk to reporters and attempt to style themselves as underdogs. There was a time in New York City when everyone dreaded the day that Harvey would finally lurch out of the shadows and stab you.
Weinstein Books, by the way, is not at all what it once was. It now publishes the literary stylings of Kathy Freston, wife of bought-out Viacom mega-millionaire Tom Freston, and her "Quantum Wellness" cleansing fast programs. Which: eww. And also former E! personality and Soderbergh wife Jules Asner! Its former head, Rob Weisbach, now runs a very small boutique literary agency.
It's lonely in the middle.
Does this mean we will no longer have to endure Plum Sykes? Please tell me this is so!
Didn't Harvey offer AJ Benza a film role for friendly press a while back? Crazy.
As much of a blowhard as Harvey Weinstein was/is – their success holds a lot of bearing on the film industry in New York (films not just set here, but produced et al) so I'm hoping they get their shit together, if only for the rest-of-our-sakes.
whatever you want to say about Kathy Freston and Jules Asner's books..know that both of their books were bestsellers that were hotly pursued by several publishing houses..
Jules Asner's book was neither 'hotly pursued' by ANY publishing house, nor was it a bestseller. It sank like a stone – as it deserved to – one of the worst books I have ever read.