Who

The less volatile, more low-key sibling, Bob Weinstein co-founded Miramax and The Weinstein Company with his brother Harvey.

Backstory

The younger son of Miriam and Max Weinstein, Flushing-raised Bob started out helping his brother Harvey in the concert promotion business in the '70s when both were students at SUNY Buffalo. The Weinsteins later turned their attention to film, and founded Miramax in 1979. Their first movie was the now all-but-forgotten Secret Policemen's Ball, which they acquired at Cannes in 1980. After cobbling together financing, they released a handful of other art-house films in the '80s including Errol Morris' The Thin Blue Line. But the movie that really ignited their careers—and the entire indie film movement—was Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies and videotape in 1989. It nabbed the Palme d'Or, earned an Oscar nom, and made a pretty penny, proving that cheap indies could be highly lucrative, too.

The Weinsteins went on a tear during the '90s, producing films like The Crying Game, Reservoir Dogs, Clerks, The Piano, and Pulp Fiction (among many others), establishing themselves as the dominant dealmakers of the nascent Sundance scene. The duo kept up the pace even after selling off the studio to Disney for roughly $80 million in 1993; with a fair degree of autonomy from the media giant, they continued to pump out critical hits like The English Patient, Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love, and Chicago. Bob also turned his attention to Dimension Films, the horror- and action-focused division. Although it didn't get the Oscar nominations (or the press) that Miramax did, Dimension was the company's profit center thanks to franchises like Scream and Scary Movie. During their 12 years under the Disney corporate umbrella, Miramax and Dimension turned out a total of 550 films in all, which collectively earned 220 Oscar nominations and raked in $4.5 billion at the box office.

The relationship between Miramax and Disney began to unravel in the early '00s, and Harvey's rapport with then-Disney chief Michael Eisner took a decisive turn for the worse in 2004, when the two clashed viciously over Michael Moore's controversial Fahrenheit 9/11. Following months of protracted negotiations, the two sides settled in 2005: Harvey and Bob left Miramax with Disney, got part ownership of their Dimension division, and headed off to start their own film production outfit, the Weinstein Company, with close to a billion dollars in financing.

Of note

Harvey and Bob had little trouble raising capital for his new company. The billion dollars was provided by Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, and LVMH, as well as high-rollers like Mark Cuban, Richard Perry, and Vivi Nevo, and Eric Mindich. But for the most part, they haven't been able to recreate the magic so famously delivered by Miramax. Although they got off to a solid start with the animated movie Hoodwinked, they've had many more failures than hits since then. Breaking and Entering failed to deliver. As did The Libertine, The Hunting Party, and the very pricey ($75 million) Grindhouse by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. While Bob's Dimension division has turned out a few hits by sticking with the tried-and-true (like Scary Movie 6 and a 2007 remake of Halloween), the flops have been mounting. Although Michael Moore's Sicko did reasonably well, The Nanny Diaries, which The Weinstein Co. was expecting to be a blockbuster, failed to generate heat at the box office. Bob will be counting on movies like Soul Men and Sin City 3 to turn things around.

On the job

While Harvey works the creative end of the business, Bob has always ensured that the business functioned as, well, a business. At The Weinstein Co., the dynamic remains the same. Bob continues to oversee Dimension and hold down the fort while the more flamboyant Harvey schmoozes with the Hollywood A-listers.

Personal

Just like his brother, Bob found love at the workplace. While Harvey's first wife was his assistant, Bob is married to Annie Clayton, a former Miramax receptionist. The couple lives in the Beresford on the Upper West Side. Weinstein originally bought a five-bedroom tower penthouse in the fall 2003 for $11 million, but turned around and sold it (for $14.5 million) to Coach CEO Lew Frankfort before moving in. He later purchased a 6,500 square-foot, $20 million apartment a few floors below.