HARVEY WEINSTEIN HONOURED BY THE QUEEN
19 Apr 2004 04:15 PM
Her Majesty The Queen has awarded Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman and
founder of Miramax Films, an honorary CBE. The honour is in
recognition of his outstanding contribution to the British film
industry.
Early on, Mr Weinstein recognised the depth of British film talent,
and began a 25-year commitment with Miramax Films to the UK industry.
Credited with bringing experimental and independent arthouse films
into the mainstream, he has contributed upwards of 600 million to
the developing, commissioning, producing, financing and distributing
of countless films made with British production entities. Recent
movies include Shakespeare in Love, Wings of the Dove, Chocolat,
Dirty Pretty Things and the upcoming J.M. Barrie's Neverland. He
established a company in the UK specifically to help ensure greater
British input into his productions.
Mr Weinstein's work and vision has been a driving force behind film
distribution in the US, and is a key reason why British film is so
widely available on screens across America.
Announcing the award today, the British Consul-General in New York,
Sir Thomas Harris, commented: "I am delighted that Harvey Weinstein's
contribution to film-making in general, and the British cinema in
particular, has been recognised in this way."
Mr Weinstein said: "My life and my career have been greatly
influenced and enriched by great British filmmakers and authors and
so I am especially honoured and humbled to be receiving the CBE.
"I am very grateful for the chance to work with so many British
masters - from the ranks of actors, producers, directors and writers.
Alongside my company's many US based productions, it has been a
constant pleasure to work with the great crews and talent based in
the UK.
"Over the years, I have developed a true appreciation for how lucky I
am to earn a living while fulfilling my dream of working in the movie
business. In the next chapter of my life, I look forward to
developing a charitable foundation to help give back to the film
industry and help others fulfil their dreams, too."
Note to Editors
Among British talent Mr Weinstein has worked with are directors
Anthony Minghella, John Madden and Stephen Frears, producers Stephen
Woolley, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, writers Tom Stoppard, Hossein
Amini and Richard Curtis and actors including Dame Judi Dench, Jude
Law, and Anthony Hopkins.
Mr Weinstein and Miramax have received more than 250 British Academy
of Film & Television Arts (Bafta) nominations and have won over 60
Bafta awards.
In 2002, Mr Weinstein and co-chairman Bob Weinstein were awarded the
British Film Institute's highest accolade, the bfi Fellowship, for
their outstanding contribution to film.
Mr Weinstein is active in the philanthropic community on issues such
as AIDs, juvenile diabetes, and multiple sclerosis research. His
annual sponsorship at the Cannes Film Festival of Cinema Against AIDS
has raised over $13 million for the American Foundation for AIDS
research.
Miramax Films has released some of the most critically acclaimed and
commercially successful independent feature films, including a record
14 Best Picture Academy Award nominations over a 12 year period
(Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, In the Bedroom, Chocolat, The
Cider House Rules, Shakespeare In Love, Life Is Beautiful (La Vita E
Bella), Good Will Hunting, The English Patient, Il Postino (The
Postman), Pulp Fiction, The Piano and The Crying Game). In its
history, Miramax has received 229 Academy Award nominations and has
won 54 Academy Awards.
British Honours are awarded on merit for exceptional achievement or
service to British interests. Honorary awards to foreigners are
conferred by Her Majesty The Queen, on advice from the Foreign &
Commonwealth Office on those who have made an important contribution
to British interests.
The honour CBE is that of a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of
the British Empire, an order founded in 1917 by King George V to
recognise service by civilians in World War I. It now honours
civilians and military personnel for public service and other
distinctions and its motto is For God and the Empire.
Mr Weinstein's investiture ceremony will occur in the coming months.