PAULA WEINSTEIN (Producer) During Paula Weinstein’s expansive 20-year career in the entertainment industry she has worked with virtually every major studio in the film industry. One of the entertainment community’s most dedicated political activists, Weinstein, who oversees Spring Creek Pictures, is well known for her involvement in social issues as she is on her production acumen.
Ms. Weinstein was raised in Europe and began her career working as an assistant film editor in New York City. She then became Special Events Director in the office of Mayor John Lindsay, bringing plays, ballet and street festivals to the city’s various communities.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1973 Ms. Weinstein signed on as a talent agent for what was to become International Creative Management (ICM). She later moved to the William Morris Agency where she handled a client portfolio that included Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
Eager for new challenges, Ms. Weinstein joined Warner Bros. as Vice President of Production in 1976 and then later enlisted with 20th Century Fox as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Production, developing and producing films such as Nine to Five and Brubaker. In 1979 Ms. Weinstein relocated to the Ladd Company, collaborating on such films as Body Heat, Lawrence Kasdan’s directorial debut.
After two years with Ladd she moved to United Artists as President of the Motion Picture Division where she supervised all productions. Two of the many hits that she brought to the screen during this time were War Games and Yentl.
In 1984 Weinstein started WW Productions, an independent production company in partnership with Gareth Wigan. In 1987 she assumed the title of Executive Consultant to MGM’s worldwide division. This position allowed her to continue producing independent projects such as A Dry White Season for which Marlon Brando was nominated for an Academy Award and The Fabulous Baker Boys, nominated for four Academy Awards, which she jointly produced with Mirage Productions in 1989.
In 1990, Paula Weinstein and Mark Rosenberg, a fellow 20-year veteran of the film industry, created Spring Creek Productions. Their first produced feature film was Fearless, directed by Peter Weir. Actress Rosie Perez received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the drama, which starred Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Tom Hulce and John Turturro. Spring Creek’s second film to go into production was Flesh and Bone, which reunited the producers with their collaborators on writer-director Steve Kloves (The Fabulous Baker Boys) and Sydney Pollack’s Mirage Productions. The film was a contemporary love story, directed by Kloves from his original screenplay, starred Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, James Caan and a young Gwyneth Paltrow.
In a nod to her ongoing passion for politics, Weinstein served as executive producer on Citizen Cohn, starring James Woods as the notorious McCarthy-era lawyer. The HBO telefilm won four Emmy Awards, three Cable Ace Awards and was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.
In 1995, Weinstein and Anthea Sylbert produced Something to Talk About, for Warner Bros., starring Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid, Robert Duvall, Gena Rowlands and Kyra Sedgwick and directed by Academy Award nominee Lasse Hallstrom.
Following Something to Talk About, and again returning to her political roots, Weinstein served as executive producer on Truman, starring Gary Sinise for HBO, which went on to win the Emmy for Best Movie made for television. Directed by Frank Pierson, the film is based on the David McCullough biography of President Harry Truman and chronicles his life from World War II to when he exited the White House.
In December 1996 HBO presented The Cherokee Kid, on which Paula served as Executive Producer. The movie starred Sinbad, James Coburn, Gregory Hines and Burt Reynolds. In 1997 she executive produced First Time Felon for HBO, directed by Charles Dutton.
Weinstein produced the box office smash Analyze This, which stars Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro. To date the film has earned more than $100 million. She co-produced Barry Levinson’s Liberty Heights, which was released in November 1999 to critical acclaim. Weinstein also produced The Perfect Storm, which stars George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. The film was released in June 2000.
In 1989 Weinstein and Rosenberg received the Bill of Rights Award from the Southern California Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. When Rosenberg suffered a fatal heart attack in November 1992, the Mark Rosenberg Legal Center of South Central Los Angeles was established in memoriam by the ACLU Foundation. The couple had been married since 1984.
A founding member of the Hollywood Women’s Political Committee, Weinstein was honored by the National Urban League Guild at their Beaux Arts Ball in 1990. When Nelson Mandela made his first official visit to the United States, Weinstein served as the official representative from the Hollywood community and supervised all elements of his visit to Los Angeles. She was honored by Women in Film with a Crystal Apple Award, which recognized her extraordinary contribution to the entertainment community.
Paula produced Possession, which starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart. Directed by Neil LaBute, the film was based on British author A.S.Byatt’s novel Possession: A Romance. She also produced Analyze That, which was a follow up to the very successful Analyze This and the critically acclaimed HBO movie, Iron Jawed Angels, about the women’s suffragette movement, starring Oscar winner Hillary Swank and Anjelica Huston. Currently in production at the present time at Warner Bros. Is Otherwise Engaged which stars Jennifer Aniston, Shirley MacLaine, Kevin Costner and Mark Ruffalo and is being directed by Rob Reiner.
Movie Database
In Theaters
(38 votes)
(13 votes)
(27 votes)
(63 votes)
(9 votes)
(1 votes)