As autumn draws near and awards season looms, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein says he has one thing on his mind: that the Knicks go all the way.
“I’m a die-hard Knicks fan and hoping Jim will let me into the garden,” Weinstein said, referring to James Dolan, who was sitting next to him at the Weinstein Company offices in Toronto on Monday. Dolan is the head of Cablevision and New York’s Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks play.
“Thanks. No pressure,” Dolan jokes.
While basketball was a hot topic, Weinstein had more pressing business at the Toronto International Film Festival. His company’s newest film, “August: Osage County,” based on the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, was having its world premiere in a few hours. Before that, Weinstein sat down for an exclusive interview.
He was more interested in talking about the Sunday premiere of the Superstorm Sandy benefit film, “12-12-12,” than anything else.
The storm devastated the Northeast last fall, and Weinstein, along with Dolan and Clear Channel president John Sykes, decided to put on a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. They gathered a superstar lineup that included the Rolling Stones, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Kanye West, Billy Joel and others for a nearly six-hour show. The event raised $65 million dollars for the Robin Hood Foundation to benefit victims of the storm.
Weinstein says they’re proud of their effort, but he also feels they made a powerful documentary that shows a perspective that fans didn’t get to see.
“That’s the only reason to make it,” he said.
Back in December, Weinstein dressed in street clothes to work behind the scenes of the concert. He speaks of the special moments that he saw and remembers “the coolest one.”
“Having Paul McCartney walk out of his dressing room and singing ‘Hey, Hey we’re the Monkees,’ and doing it for a minute and half,” he said.
Dolan and Sykes agree that the documentary captures something special.
“There was a sense a sense of sarcasm that only New Yorkers can have looking straight in the eye of a tragedy that this movie really reflects,” Sykes says.
He cites Adam Sandler’s poignant parody of the Leonard Cohen song, “Hallelujah,” and Billy Joel rehearsing his own take of “We Are the World,” as “We Are New York,” sung in a whiny, New York accent.
One of the criticisms of the benefit concert was the disparity between music genres. Kanye West was the only hip-hop artist in a primarily classic rock-based lineup.
But Sykes defends that point.
“It was about making money for the victims. We were less concerned making a perfectly balanced show, and more focused on what artists could bring in people with the most money,” Sykes said.
As for a release date of the documentary, Weinstein said they will probably memorialize the day of the storm, Oct. 29, and have a New York premiere.
Weinstein said he relies on Dolan and Sykes for other advice, citing their help with his highly regarded film, “Lee Daniel’s The Butler.”
It’s been mentioned as an Oscar favorite, but after Monday, so was his other film, “August: Osage County,” making it an interesting awards season.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More