Miramax taps film veteran as new CEO
Bill Block recently was chief of QED. His producer credits include ‘Bad Moms.’
Miramax, the film company known for movies including “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has named veteran movie producer Bill Block as its new chief executive.
The hiring comes four months after former CEO Steven Schoch left Miramax and about a year after the onetime indie film powerhouse was acquired by BeIN Media Group, a broadcaster based in Qatar, for an undisclosed sum.
Block most recently served as the CEO of production company QED and is known for producing movies such as the 2016 hit “Bad Moms” and the 2014 Brad Pitt war film, “Fury.”
“Miramax is committed to expand production and acquisitions in film and television and Bill’s strong leadership will surely lead Miramax successfully into the future,” said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of BeIN Media Group.
Founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein in 1979, Miramax quickly became a prominent independent studio that helped define independent cinema in the 1980s and 1990s. It was sold to Walt Disney Co. in 1993, and the brothers departed in 2005 after a bitter dispute with the parent company over creative control.
An investor group led by property mogul Ron Tutor, Thomas Barrack’s Colony Capital and Qatar Investment Authority bought Miramax for $660 million in 2010. Tutor later sold his stake to the Qatar investment fund.
Miramax boasts a library of 700 films, including Oscar winners “The English Patient” and “Chicago.” Though not the hit maker it once was, Mirmax has made a business out of reviving old titles for television (“From Dusk Till Dawn”) and the big screen. Recent film projects have included “Bad Santa 2,” which flopped, and “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” which was an international hit.
The studio recently announced the upcoming Johnny Depp-Forest Whitaker police drama “Labyrinth,” which Miramax will co-finance with Open Road Films. In December, it acquired the U.S. distribution rights to “I, Tonya,” starring Margot Robbie as figure skater Tonya Harding.