Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film

“Harvey was the first person to treat art films like commercial films.”

Harvey Weinstein basically bullied the entire film world into caring about art house movies. He used pure aggression to turn niche stories into massive hits.

“The festival was becoming a trade show.”

Sundance started as a quiet retreat for artists to find their voices. It turned into a high stakes feeding ground for agents and studio heads.

“Redford was the sun around which everything else revolved.”

Robert Redford wanted to protect filmmakers from the Hollywood machine. Then he inadvertently built a different kind of machine that felt just as cold.

“Harvey Scissorhands was not a nickname he cherished.”

Miramax would buy a beautiful movie and then chop it to pieces in the editing room. They cared more about the pacing than the director's original vision.