Editing Miramax (section)

===Independent era (1979–1993)===
Miramax was founded as Miramax Films by the Weinstein brothers, Harvey and Bob along with executive Corky Burger in [[Buffalo, New York]], in 1979, and was named by combining the first names of their parents, Miriam and Max.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/04/max-weinstein-200304|title=All Thanks to Max|last=Weinstein|first=Bob|author-link=Bob Weinstein|date=April 2003|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref> It was created to distribute [[independent film]]s deemed commercially unfeasible by the [[major film studios|major studios]].

The company's first major success came when the Weinsteins teamed up with British producer [[Martin Lewis (humorist)|Martin Lewis]] and acquired the U.S. rights to two concert films Lewis had produced of [[Benefit concert|benefit shows]] for [[human rights]] organization [[Amnesty International]]. The Weinsteins worked with Lewis to distill the two films into one film for the American marketplace. The resulting film, the American version of ''[[The Secret Policeman's Other Ball]]'', was a successful release for Miramax in the summer of 1982. This release presaged a ''modus operandi'' that the company would undertake later in the 1980s of acquiring films from international filmmakers and reworking them to suit American sensibilities and audiences. In its early years, Miramax Films had to focus primarily as a catalyst for music and decided to do a licensing agreement with [[HBO Video|Thorn EMI Video]] to release several of Miramax's early films.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=February 28, 1982|title=Miramax Marries Movies and Music|page=55|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1982/1982-08-28-Billboard-Page-0055.pdf|access-date=December 30, 2021}}</ref>

Among the company's other breakthrough films as distributors in the late 1980s and early 1990s were ''[[Pulp Fiction (film)|Pulp Fiction]]'', ''[[Scandal (1989 film)|Scandal]]'', ''[[Sex, Lies, and Videotape]]'', ''[[Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!]]'', ''[[The Crying Game]],'' and ''[[Clerks (1994 film)|Clerks]]''. The company also made films such as ''[[Flirting with Disaster (film)|Flirting with Disaster]]'', ''[[Heavenly Creatures]]'', and ''[[Shakespeare in Love]]''.

Miramax Films acquired and/or produced many other films that did well financially. The company became one of the leaders of the independent film boom of the 1990s. Miramax Films produced or distributed seven films with box office grosses totaling more than $100&nbsp;million; its highest grossing title, ''[[Chicago (2002 film)|Chicago]]'', earned more than $300 million worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1816888833/|title=Chicago|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=February 17, 2012}}</ref>

The company was also successful in securing [[Academy Award]] nominations for its releases, many of which resulted in [[Academy Award|Oscar]] wins.