Some interesting (for me, the only person I care about) behind-the-scenes stuff from The New York Post below. Spoiler alert: the Weinsteins are trouble!
The Weinstein Co.'s decision to take Project Runway away from NBC Universal comes down to the same two factors that conspire to destroy every successful entertainment-industry relationship: money and ego.
According to more than a half-dozen sources inside or close to both The Weinstein Co., which owns the show, and NBC, Harvey Weinstein felt that Bravo, which aired it, had "always underpaid" for the show while "taking all of the credit" for its success.
"Harvey hates us passionately, always did," said one NBC insider. "He despises Bravo because he thinks we didn't pay him enough."
Sources said Bravo paid around $600,000 per episode for the next two seasons of Project Runway but less than that during the first three.
Weinstein not only considered the per episode price to be a low-ball figure, according to sources, but also butted heads with network brass, including NBC chief Jeff Zucker, when he tried to make extra money through product placement deals.
According to sources, Weinstein would independently strike product-placement deals without consulting Bravo, a move that angered network executives since an agreement to include L'Oreal on the show, for instance, would preclude the network from selling ad time to other cosmetic makers.
The situation came to a head after Season 3 when Macy's, which Bravo had lined up, dropped its show sponsorship after Weinstein insisted that a representative from Wal-Mart, where he had a DVD deal, appear on the finale, sources said.
"Bravo made a ton of money off the show while The Weinstein Co. hardly saw any," said another source.
That's why the move to Lifetime - which NBC is challenging in court on breach-of-contract grounds - is being viewed as a pure money play for The Weinstein Co.
Indeed, sources valued the Lifetime deal at upward of $150 million based on the network running a 14-episode season twice a year over the course of five years. On a comparative basis using those figures, Lifetime is paying more than $1 million per episode, or at least $400,000 more than Bravo was paying.
The windfall - provided the deal holds up in court - should be a boon for The Weinstein Co.'s bottom line, given that it has to absorb a lot of the upfront costs to fund film releases at a time when the credit crisis has caused film-financing deals to dry up.
Aside from the financial concerns, sources also said Weinstein was peeved at the lack of respect he got from NBC for initially developing the show.
"He was always considered an afterthought to them," said one source close to Weinstein.
But another source counters that Weinstein just wanted to be coddled.
"It was Bravo that nurtured the show to life," this source said. "The network's producers, who have more expertise in reality programming [than Weinstein does], made it a hit."
The Weinstein Co. has 20 days, or until April 27, to respond to NBC's lawsuit.
Representatives for both companies declined comment for this story.
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