CASE STUDY
MEDIA RELATIONS & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: FEMALE INVESTORS MAKE A BID FOR THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
The Challenge
After disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein was ousted from his company, Maria Contreras-Sweet, 24th administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama, assembled a majority-women team of Hollywood and Wall Street leaders to make a bid for The Weinstein Company. The goal of the project was to relaunch the company as a movie studio that would be run by women to support women and create a fund for Weinstein’s victims. TASC was brought on to tell the story of the deal, promote Contreras-Sweet’s thought leadership and generate positive media attention around the project.
The Challenge
After disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein was ousted from his company, Maria Contreras-Sweet, 24th administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama, assembled a majority-women team of Hollywood and Wall Street leaders to make a bid for The Weinstein Company. The goal of the project was to relaunch the company as a movie studio that would be run by women to support women and create a fund for Weinstein’s victims. TASC was brought on to tell the story of the deal, promote Contreras-Sweet’s thought leadership and generate positive media attention around the project.
The Strategy
TASC capitalized on the momentum of the #MeToo movement and made Contreras-Sweet and her team a symbol of hope and progress for the film industry’s treatment of women. TASC managed a huge volume of media requests for Contreras-Sweet and strategically released information about the deal to garner community interest and support from key decision makers. Several other groups were also in the running to secure a deal, and many details of the negotiations could not be made public. TASC worked to ensure that outlets were accurately reporting on the details of the projected deal, including that it was the only proposal that would save jobs, create a women-majority board of directors and create a $90 million compensation fund for Weinstein’s victims.
The Results
TASC generated hundreds of media placements in national outlets including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, ABC News, CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, CNN Business, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and Refinery29, which turned the tide in Contreras-Sweet’s favor with The Weinstein Company’s board of directors. TASC helped Contreras-Sweet enter exclusive negotiations with the company and the bankruptcy court, proving that women could have a seat at the table at a crucial time in Hollywood’s history.
MEDIA COVERAGE
