Weinstein Co., dragged down by the sexual misconduct scandal of its co-founder Harvey Weinstein, is set to file for court protection from creditors after sale talks collapsed.
The board failed to revive a deal to sell the film studio to investors led by Maria Contreras-Sweet, who ran the Small Business Administration from 2014 to 2017, according to an emailed letter from the Weinstein Co. board Sunday.
Weinstein Co. has been teetering near bankruptcy as partners such as Netflix Inc. have pulled projects from the film and TV company. The filmmaker, creator of Oscar-winning pictures such as “The King’s Speech” and hit TV shows such as “Project Runway,” has been reeling from a loss of business since the allegations against its co-founder surfaced in October
Other bidders had included Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) and BeIN Media Group , the Qatar-based owner of Miramax — the previous film studio founded by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein.