Miramax and Cannon: Familial Film Titans
Miramax and Cannon Films
While I was watching the great documentary “Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films,” at first I made a parallel to the documentary “Machete Maidens Unleashed.” Both dealt with a company that was making cheap, exploitative films with adult themes that were made in the seventies and eighties, and made a lot of money for its founders. Cannon Films was bought by cousins, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus in 1979. The Israeli born cousins were opposed in taste much of the time, but both wanted the same thing: a chance to be powerful, famous, and beloved. Their decisions regarding Cannon studios often were best for them rather than what was best for the company. They churned out a lot of films, mostly to cover the cost of the next set of films they were looking to make. Can you think of a set of related people running a company centered around film, who have a reputation for being crude, angry, and fame hungry?
Peter Biskind wrote a fascinating book about the world of nineties independent filmmaking called “Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film.” The title is actually very misleading, because though it covers Sundance in some of its chapters, this is really the story of how the Weinstein brothers made Miramax a cash cow in a very short amount of time. Thanks to their cockiness, brash insincerity, and monstrous ambition, the two brothers created an industry that distributes films on the basis of Oscar consideration. They are the ones who got indie performances as much love as mainstream studios during awards seasons. Because of them we have Quentin Tarantino, Gwyneth Paltrow has an Oscar, and “Cinema Paradiso,” is considered a classic.
Golan and Globus were the predecessors to the Weinsteins in many ways. Both conducted business much the same way, always relying on some luck, chutzpah, and a lack of accountability. The main difference between the two companies was that Cannon was a studio, meaning it made all the films it distributed, but more often than not Miramax only distributed films. While Cannon pumped out multiple films to fill space in the theaters and make enough money to put another film into production, Miramax simply went to festivals, or listened to the word on the street, and then acquired already made indies. They then distributed the films under their name, and campaigned for Oscar gold when needed. Most of the people who worked for both the Golans and the Weinsteins were not paid very well. This can be explained by the Golan’s because the product they were making wasn’t as highbrow or lucrative as other studios. Miramax had to keep costs down, so it made actors take a pay cut to get artistic projects financed. They also allegedly paid their employees low salaries as well.
From "The English Paitent," which was Miramax's first Best Picture win Miramax
Both Golan and Globus left Cannon in the early nineties. Globus returned to Israel, where he resides today, and Golan ran a separate film company until his death in 2014. The Weinsteins left Miramax over creative differences with their parent company, Disney, and now run the Weinstein Company. The entire catalogue of Cannon films belongs to MGM, many of which are on YouTube in the Paramount Vault. Each set of men were similar in a very exceptional way, which is that they succeeded in a very specific moment in American pop culture. They created marketing techniques, production quotas, and unique ways of dealing with people, in ages where film was predominantly under the control of the major studios. Whether making Oscar nominated films or making bombs like “The Apple,” and “Masters of the Universe,” each company prided themselves on quality and success. Cannon even won some artistic prestige in 1986 with the Dutch film release “The Assault,” which just further shows similarities between these two companies. If you want to know more please watch “Electric Boogaloo…” or read “Down and Dirty Pictures…”
