Weintraub Entertainment Group (WEG) was a film production company considered to be a mini-major studio founded by

Jerry Weintraub Jerome Charles "Jerry" Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent manager and actor whose television films won him three Emmys. He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown ...

History

Weintraub Entertainment Group was formed on July 1, 1986 by

. In February 1987, WEG received $461 million in financing from

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...

Cineplex Odeon Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian movie theatre and family entertainment centre chain headquartered in Toronto. The company was formed in 2003 via the acquisition of Loews Cineplex's Canadian operations (which included ...

and others in the form of securities, bank loans and advances.

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrup ...

and US Tobacco Company were principal investors. WEG also arranged a $145-million, 7-year credit line with the

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

. WEG also signed a 20-year distribution deal with Columbia and planned to release seven or eight movies per year. In March 1987, WEG signed its first production and distribution deal, a three-year agreement with

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like '' Hair' ...

's RSO Films for multiple films budgeted in the $12-million to $15-million range. With Stigwood's partnership, WEG was to finance a film version of '' Evita'' with

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sca ...

as writer/director and

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón (; ; 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952), better known as just Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita (), was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 19 ...

. However, the studio dropped the project. WEG purchased from

The Cannon Group The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...

in May 1987 its 2,000-title British film library, the Thorn-EMI Screen Entertainment library, for $85 million with $50 million from a loan. On July 20, Harry Usher joined the Group as President of the Weintraub International Enterprises division and as a senior vice president. In January 1988,

Barney Rosenzweig Barney Rosenzweig (born December 23, 1937) is an American television producer. Biography Rosenzweig was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles Credit Lyonnais Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt ...

participating. In 1989, as a result of Sony/Columbia hiring

Peter Guber Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942) is an American business executive, entrepreneur, educator, and author. He is chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Guber's most recent films from Mandalay Entertainment include '' The Kids Are A ...

and

Jon Peters John Peters (born June 2, 1945) is an American film producer and former hairdresser. Early life Peters was born on June 2, 1945 in Van Nuys, California. Peters is of Cherokee (father) and Italian (mother) descent. While growing up in a rough n ...

away from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, Sony/Columbia traded its 15% share in WEG. In September 1990, WEG filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...

. Later that month, Jerry Weintraub left the company and forged a deal with

, while Columbia still remained indebted to releasing WEG films. Film Asset Holding Co., a company formed by WEG's two primary bank creditors, sued Weintraub over his structuring of a sale of the ''Peter Pan'' story to Sony Pictures Entertainment in the fall of 1990. Weintraub and Film Assets settled in January 1992. In August 1998, a jury verdict for $7 million was lost by

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The c ...

Cos. to investors who had been misled by the brokerage's $83 million bond issue prospectus for the now-bankrupt Weintraub Entertainment Group.

Production/release library

*''

The Big Blue ''The Big Blue'' (released in some countries under the French title ''Le Grand Bleu'') is a 1988 film in the French ''Cinéma du look'' visual style, made by French director Luc Besson. It is a heavily fictionalized and dramatized story of the ...

'' (1988): distribution rights, $3 million *'' Fresh Horses'' (1988): first original production, grossed only $7 million *''

My Stepmother Is an Alien ''My Stepmother Is an Alien'' is a 1988 American science fiction comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin, and starring Dan Aykroyd, Kim Basinger, Jon Lovitz, and Alyson Hannigan. Its plot follows Celeste, an extraterrestrial woman sent on a se ...

'' (1988): $26 million budget, grossed $13.8 million *''

The Karen Carpenter Story ''The Karen Carpenter Story'' is an American made-for-television biographical film about singer Karen Carpenter and the brother-and-sister pop music duo of which she was a part, The Carpenters. The film aired on CBS on January 1, 1989. Direct ...

'' (1989): a TV movie release on CBS *'' Listen to Me'' (1989) *''

She's Out of Control ''She's Out of Control'' is a 1989 American independent coming of age comedy film directed by Stan Dragoti. Starring Tony Danza, Ami Dolenz and Catherine Hicks. The original music score was composed by Alan Silvestri. The film was marketed wi ...

'' (1989) *''

Troop Beverly Hills ''Troop Beverly Hills'' is a 1989 American comedy film. It is produced by the Weintraub Entertainment Group and directed by Jeff Kanew, starring Shelley Long, Craig T. Nelson, Betty Thomas, Mary Gross, Stephanie Beacham and introducing Jenn ...

'' (1989) *''

The Gods Must Be Crazy II ''The Gods Must Be Crazy II'' is a 1989 comedy film written and directed by Jamie Uys, and a sequel to the 1980 film '' The Gods Must Be Crazy'', which Uys also wrote and directed. An international co-production between South Africa, Botswana ...

'' (1989) After the company shut down its assets were reorganized into the WEG Acquisition Corp, and are currently held by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. While the television rights are controlled by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and under license to

Trifecta Entertainment Trifecta Entertainment & Media is an American entertainment company founded in 2006. The company's founders previously held jobs as executives at MGM Television. Trifecta is primarily a distribution company and also handles advertising sales in exc ...

References

{{Authority control Mass media companies established in 1986 Mass media companies disestablished in 1990 Film distributors of the United States Film production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles 1986 establishments in California 1998 disestablishments in California Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990