In this age of digital media
streaming, one of the greatest priorities of big media companies around the
world is to procure plenty of content to provide over their digital platforms,
preferably on an exclusive basis. Said companies have often gained avenues of
media content by acquiring production units such as film and television studios
which would have extensive libraries of movies and series to stream. This was
the rationale of Qatar-based pan-Arab media network beIN when it acquired American
film studio Miramax in 2016, with intent to sell a portion of it to a stateside
partner. The Viacom conglomerate expressed interest in dealing, before their eventual
merger with CBS.
Now, as The Hollywood Reporter tells it, the finally-merged ViacomCBS is in
renewed discussions to take up the earlier offer by beIN Media Group with
regards to taking a minority stake in the Miramax film studio. While the outfit
is now under the beIN umbrella, the Qatari conglomerate is looking to link up
with an equity partner in Miramax’s home nation, to form a strategic
partnership that will monetize the studio further. No definite outcome has been
revealed about the talks, much like the former Viacom’s other competition for
the Miramax stake, Lionsgate and Spyglass.
The minority stake would
optimally give ViacomCBS access to the Miramax film library, which contains
both blockbusters and award-winning movies such as “Good Will Hunting,” “The
Crying Game,” “Pulp Fiction,” the “Scream” franchise and many other
well-remember features. The partial stake being offered by beIN would ensure
that the current parent company of Miramax would be able to make use of their
existing content too.
Miramax is a fairly
well-established independent film studio founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey
Weinstein, and its movie offerings made it fairly marketable that Disney
acquired it by 1993. The Weinsteins maintained their independent creative spirit
for Miramax until they departed in 2005 to found another studio in The
Weinstein Company. Disney would eventually sell Miramax to FilmYard Holdings in
2010, with beIN buying it off them in 2016.
For its part, beIN began in 2014 as
a holding company for a sports network spun off from Al Jazeera earlier in 2012.
It has built up its own content portfolio outside of sports by forming
partnership agreements with Turner Broadcasting System, BBC, Warner Bros.,
Discovery, CBS, and DreamWorks Animation. Miramax was one of their latest
acquisitions for further expansion.
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