Born in Flushing, Queens, NY. Son of Miriam and Max Weinstein (Miriam + Max = "Miramax"). Co-founded Miramax in 1979 with brother Bob Weinstein (b. 1953). The company was bought by Disney in 1993. Originally Miramax distributed and produced lower budget, quirky art house films. But it moved into developing bigger, more costly movies such as CHICAGO and Martin Scorsese's GANGS OF NEW YORK (both 2002). Sister company Dimension Films reinvigorated the teen horror genre with the SCREAM and SCARY MOVIE series and has expanded its scope with the SPY KIDS series. Miramax has released some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful independent feature films of the past decade including THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (LA VITA È BELLA), GOOD WILL HUNTING, PULP FICTION, THE CRYING GAME, THE PIANO, IL POSTINO, CINEMA PARADISO, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE, MY LEFT FOOT, SLING BLADE, KOLYA and FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE, among many others. Visit the Internet Movie Database for a full listing of Weinstein's 200+ producing/executive producing credits. Weinstein is known for refining the art of marketing his company's films to the Hollywood film community, especially Academy members around Oscar® time. The company has received almost 200 nominations, with over 20 of them in the Writing categories. From 1994 to 2004, Miramax had at least one Best Picture nominee, and several of its releases have received the Best Picture Oscar: THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996), SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998) and CHICAGO (2002). The Weinsteins ventured into live theatrical production, winning their first Tony® Award as producers of The Real Thing, which won for Best Revival of a Play in 2000.  Best Picture of the Year 1998: SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE - Producer at Miramax (w. David Parfitt, Donna Gigliotti, Edward Zwick & Marc Norman)  Nominated for Best Picture of the Year 2002: GANGS OF NEW YORK - Producer at Miramax (w. Alberto Grimadi at P.F.A. Films) 2 nominations, 1 Award