Uber-producer Harvey Weinstein know how to snare Oscar buzz better than almost anyone in Hollywood. He’s also expert at wresting editorial control from some of film’s biggest directors en route to making himself the center of attention, according to a report at Grantland.com.
The article recaps Weinstein’s colorful Hollywood reputation. He’s got an eye for great movies and a hunger for making himself their unofficial stars.
Weinstein, a prominent backer of President Barack Obama, has battled even film icons like Martin Scorsese in the editing room, and Weinstein rarely loses. His edits often work–if measured by big tickets sales and Oscar consideration. Ultimately, Weinstein’s machinations make him the focus of attention, not the film or filmmaker in question.
Harvey “The Butcher” Weinstein regularly upstages the stars and makers of the movies he distributes, and that is apparently intentional. “Using a baseball analogy, we’re player-managers,” Harvey’s partner and brother, Bob Weinstein, told the L.A. Times way back in 1989. “We don’t want to be managers. There’s no fun in it for us if we’re not involved in the day-to-day activities.” In other words, according to the Weinstein way it’s not enough to exercise strategy behind the scenes. They also have to be out there on the field, publicly saving the game.