Wimzie's House is falling down: $151-million in sales: After stellar 24-year run, a legend comes quickly unspooled National Edition

The origins of Cinar date to 1976, when Ms. [Micheline Charest] met Mr. [Ronald Weinberg], who is now 48, at a women's film festival in New Orleans. Ms. Charest was working for the National Film Board. She had been a film buff all her life. She grew up in Quebec City, the daughter of a dental s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNational post (Toronto)
Main Author Paul Waldie and Charlie Gillis, with files from Campbell Clark and Robert Gibbens
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Don Mills, Ont Postmedia Network Inc 07.03.2000
Subjects
Boards of directors
Children & youth
Intellectual property
Investments
Litigation
Motion picture directors & producers
Stockholders
Women
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Summary:The origins of Cinar date to 1976, when Ms. [Micheline Charest] met Mr. [Ronald Weinberg], who is now 48, at a women's film festival in New Orleans. Ms. Charest was working for the National Film Board. She had been a film buff all her life. She grew up in Quebec City, the daughter of a dental surgeon, and attended the London Film School at the age of 18. The two hit it off and decided to strike out on their own. They moved to New York, sold Mr. Weinberg's apartment and acquired an old horror film from Warner Bros. called The Wicker Man. They hit the road, selling the picture from the trunk of their car to art theatre houses. The movie ran in about 30 theatres and Ms. Charest and Mr. Weinberg netted $250,000 (US). Over the years, Cinar has run into problems. The company has been sued by the successors of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, over intellectual property issues and in 1995 the RCMP investigated Cinar over allegations of intellectual property theft. The Mounties decided not to lay charges.
ISSN:1486-8008