Harvey Weinstein's Lieutenants Jumping Ship
Goodness, the bad news just doesn't stop for Harvey Weinstein. The movie mogul and Weinstein Co. head—who recently lost his bid to move Project Runway, his big moneymaker, to Lifetime—has had a rough time lately, dealing with everything from a flagging fashion line to a flagging internet company to a flagging video distribution service. So much flagging! And now the precarious nature of Weinstein's business is clear to everybody; his own executives are abandoning him, in a terrible job market:
Executive vps/co-heads of acquisitions and production Michelle Krumm and Maeva Gatineau quietly left the indie distributor three weeks ago. Production president Michael Cole and senior vp production Carla Gardini will be following suit in the next few weeks. Executive vp marketing Gary Faber is expected to depart by the end of the year. In short, TWC will momentarily find itself without heads of production and acquisitions. The company said it is planning to replace them.
That's five executives leaving by the end of the year. The two who already left had 11 years with the company. But they judged their prospects to be better out in the (frankly shitty) job market than at Weinstein Co. Which is not a good sign. The Weinsteins say publicly that they have plenty of cash to weather the economic downturn. Though they have slightly less since Harvey lost a $1 million bet this month. And the unkindest cut of all? Marchesa, the fashion company run by Weinstein's wife Georgina Chapman, is now going for 80% off. [pic via New Times]