By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Weinsteins Join Forces With BET Founder; Sony Responds in Blackface
It turns out The Times’s Andrew Ross Sorkin and Laura Holson were mostly on the money Thursday with their scoop about Our Stories Films, a partnership between the Weinsteins and BET mogul Robert Johnson to produce “urban content.” Minus a wobbly analogy or two (“Last year, the Weinsteins raised about $1 billion in financing and debt, or about the yearly budget of a movie studio like Warner Brothers Pictures”), the authors’ story is confirmed this morning by a press release just slipped under the door at Reeler HQ. The latest news is that JP Morgan Chase will kick in $175 million in production financing and that the eventual output–comprising “titles in the African-American family comedy genre”–will be distributed by the Weinsteins’ Dimension Films genre banner.
Naturally (and in unison, evidently), the Weinsteins exulted about their latest partnership that allows someone else to do the heavy lifting:
Bob and Harvey Weinstein stated, “We are proud to be behind this venture and are confident in Bob Johnson’s taste and his ability to identify projects that will be successful. We are committed to releasing a slate of films focused in the African-American family genre and to working with Our Stories to launch their exciting new brand.”
Stop laughing. Think of it this way: Even if the Weinsteins are going through the motions, at least they are not pulling the condescending stunt that Sony choreographed in its own “urban content” announcement, which hit the wire just in time for the release of the Wayans’ latest lower-intestinal bulge, Little Man:
Sony Pictures Digital has reached a promotional deal with the web’s first online urban community, GoUrban.net, allowing the studio to tap the growing urban Internet audience and create hype for its latest movies. …
The current promotion is a sweepstakes offering web visitors the chance to win their own bling-bling with a $1,000 hip-hop jewelry shopping spree and a $500 gift certificate from GoUrban.net. The new online community is a comprehensive website that features urban apparel, music, electronics, a nationwide events calendar and an interactive social network.
Moviegoers interested in winning some “ice” of their own should register at http://www.gourban.net/contest.
Wow. You hella “fly,” Sony, but do not think you will get over on the Weinsteins that easily. Expect the brothers to throw down the funk-faking gauntlet as the first Our Stories films come to theaters; they may be counting on “Bob Johnson’s taste” in selecting projects, but you will know you are fucked when Harvizzle shows up at a premiere with gold caps and a clock around his neck, or when Bob arrives with his diamond-encrusted “B-Dub” bling. Do not tempt egregious, patronizing fate with these guys–you just cannot win.