In , Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein , co-founded the entertainment company Miramax , which produced several successful independent films including Sex, Lies, and Videotape ; The Crying Game ; Pulp Fiction ; Heavenly Creatures ; Flirting with Disaster ; and Shakespeare in Love He was co-chairman , alongside Bob, from to In October , following sexual abuse allegations dating back to the late s, Weinstein was dismissed from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
More than 80 women made allegations of sexual harassment or rape against him by October In May , Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape in New York ; in February , he was found guilty of two of five felony counts. On July 20, , Weinstein was extradited to Los Angeles to face further charges at a subsequent trial, where he was found guilty of three of seven charges on December 19, On April 25, , the New York Court of Appeals overturned the New York rape convictions because of "egregious errors" of procedure, ordering a retrial.
Weinstein's longtime friend, Jonathan A. Dandes, followed him to Buffalo and has described Weinstein as "aggressive" and "consumed" in matters of business. In the late s, using profits from their concert promotion business, Weinstein and his brother founded the independent film distribution company Miramax Films , named after their parents Miriam and Max. In the early s, Miramax Films acquired the rights to two British films of benefit shows filmed for the human rights organization Amnesty International.
Working closely with Martin Lewis , the producer of the original films, the Weinstein brothers edited the two films into one movie tailored for the American market. The movie raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty International and was credited by Amnesty with having helped to raise its profile in the United States. Weinstein and Miramax Films gained wider attention in with the release of Errol Morris ' documentary The Thin Blue Line , which detailed the struggle of Randall Dale Adams , a wrongfully convicted inmate sentenced to death row.
The publicity that soon surrounded the case resulted in Adams' release and nationwide publicity for Miramax Films.
