DIMENSION FILMS' SUCCESSFUL SCARE TACTICS STUDIO-SIZED RETURNS ON INDIE-SIZED BUDGETS
By TIM CARVELL

(FORTUNE Magazine) – This year was a big one for the Weinstein brothers, co-founders of Miramax. Harvey Weinstein saw the Best Picture Oscar go to the studio's sand epic The English Patient and reaped praise as the new champion of the art-house movie. Less well reported was the triumph of Bob Weinstein, who saw one of the movies produced by his horror-and-action Dimension label--the slasher flick Scream--take home Best Picture, albeit at the MTV Movie Awards.

Perhaps it's to be expected that in the four years since he created Dimension, Bob hasn't received much acclaim for reviving schlock cinema. Yet Dimension--which shares marketing and distribution staffs with Miramax but has its own development team--brings in a disproportionate share of the studio's revenues. Last year Miramax's 20 releases grossed $250 million in the U.S., while Dimension made $172 million on just five. Still, Dimension remains largely unknown: The head of PR at one studio asks, "Who are they with? Should I know them?"

Yes, actually, the majors should know Dimension, for two reasons. First, while most independents don't provide much competition for the big studios' fare, Dimension's smart genre films siphon away a prime demographic: thrill-seeking teens and young adults. Indeed, while Dimension's name may not ring a bell, the majors knew enough to steer clear of its best-known franchise. When the sequel to Scream opens on Dec. 12, it will do so virtually unopposed. With the exception of one other wide release, the low-wattage comedy For Richer or Poorer, the big studios have ceded the weekend to Scream 2.

But there is an even better reason for the majors to keep an eye on Dimension: While the costs of movies are spiraling out of control, with the average now $40 million apiece, Dimension spends half that amount--and its movies still make about the same as a studio release. Simply put, Bob Weinstein has found a way to make a cost-effective crowd pleaser.

He has done so, in large part, by minimizing the main driver of budget inflation: star salaries. Dimension eschews pricey celebrities in favor of cheaper actors from TV and indies; ER's George Clooney, for instance, anchored the studio's gore opus From Dusk Till Dawn. "The major studios are buying $25 million stars and $5 million directors," Weinstein says. "They're in for $30 million before anyone says 'action!' That's 75% of our savings. The concept behind the movie is more important than some of the stars."

As obvious as that may sound, the reason studios pay the Cruises and Fords $25 million apiece is that there just aren't many great concepts around. But Dimension has an inside track on ideas; the Weinsteins keep a close eye on indie and foreign films, so they spot and sign new filmmakers long before the studios have heard of them. In addition to being edgier and cleverer than the usual studio suspects, indie filmmakers get the most out of a limited budget. Weinstein points to Robert Rodriguez, whose first movie, El Mariachi, cost $7,000. "If I gave him $70 million," he says, "I'd get eight movies."

Those low budgets free Dimension from the blockbuster mentality driving the majors. With less at stake, Dimension's films take more chances--Scream gutted its biggest star, Drew Barrymore, in the opening reel, and From Dusk Till Dawn's protagonists included a rapist with a foot fetish. Ironically, this disregard for the mass market may be just the reason why a movie like Scream hit: Audiences sick of predictable studio product found Dimension's kinks a breath of fresh air.

Now that it's tasted mainstream success, there is a danger that Dimension could start overspending to ape the major studios. But Weinstein insists that with two notable exceptions--future sequels to Rambo and Total Recall--he'll keep costs in the $10 million to $20 million range, and never produce more than four or five films per year.

The greater danger is that the majors are now mimicking Dimension. Already Sony has had a fall hit with I Know What You Did Last Summer, a cheap horror movie cast with TV stars. But Weinstein is unfazed. "We've got something else in the works," he says, pointing to the studio's slate of comedies, which includes next month's Senseless, starring the anti-art-house duo of Marlon Wayans and David Spade.

And what does his quality-maven brother think of this oeuvre? Harvey Weinstein admits, "When I first saw The Crow [one of Bob's early, megaviolent acquisitions], I said, 'what are you, crazy?' " Nonetheless, Dimension has its advantages. "I know nothing about this stuff," he shrugs. "I just like having a rich brother."

--Tim Carvell