What a coincidence, eh?
Harvey Weinstein, a prominent Obama fund raiser and bundler is going to release a film dramatizing the Osama bin-Laden raid that is scheduled to air - wait for it - November 4th, 2 days before the election:
A film dramatizing the death of Osama bin Laden is set to debut next month on the National Geographic Channel, two days before the presidential election.
“Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden,” from The Weinstein Co. and Voltage Pictures, will air Sunday, Nov. 4, the channel said. {...}
National Geographic Channel chose the film’s debut date to help promote the start of its fall season, channel President Howard T. Owens said Thursday.
“Harvey obviously doesn’t schedule our network,” Owens said. He added that the channel is “not political. We are opportunistic from a programming perspective.”
National Geographic Channel did take into account Weinstein’s desire to get out ahead of a competitive movie about the U.S. Navy SEALs’ hunt for the al-Qaida leader, Owens said.
“Zero Dark Thirty,” from director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, who won Oscars for “The Hurt Locker,” is scheduled to be released in theaters at the end of the year.
“Seal Team Six,” directed by John Stockwell (“Into the Blue”), also was intended for a big-screen release until the channel made what it called a “preemptive bid” for it. The film will be available to Netflix U.S. subscribers a day after its premiere.
Owens said he and Weinstein have a previous business relationship: Owens represented Miramax Television while working at the William Morris Agency.
Now it just so happens that Howard T. Owens is also an Obama supporter and donor. Just a coincidence of course.
So let's replay this scenario.
One Obama donor goes to his old agent, who's also an Obama donor. The first Obama donor has a first run movie ready to roll that he's spent millions (borrowed from one of the banks, actually) to make, but makes a deal to shelve his plans for a lucrative theater release in favor of a small screen debut on a relatively small cable network 'because he wanted to get out ahead of a competitive movie' that's not being released for 3 months...even though Weinstein obviously has his film already made and ready to go.
And just by coincidence, it airs the Sunday before the election!
Just for giggles, let's go Hollywood on this one.
A major, well connected donor to the campaign of a sitting president has a movie in the can that's ready for release. But instead of going to one of the majors for distribution, he contacts his pals working on the president's re-election campaign, shows them an advance copy of his movie and tells them, "I have a connection to get this released on cable the Sunday night before the election in prime time through my old agent. But I can't do this one as a freebie. I spent money on this, I need to at least pay the banks off and make a little profit. You wanna help each other out here?"
So the campaign pays of the major donor via the major donor's old buddy, now head of a small cable network. The donor's buddy, who also supports the president, is happy to help because not only does he assist the re-election campaign, he gets a first run movie to boost his ratings. And the donor gets his money and a major favor to call up in the future should he need it.
Badda-bam, badda-bing!
Now there's a script for you. After all, Weinstein obviously sold it once already.
No comments:
Post a Comment