Founded by the brothers Harvey and Robert Weinstein in 1979 and named by combining the first names of their parents Max and Mira the company was originally created in order to distribute independent films which were deemed commercially unviable at the major studios.
The company acquired a number of films which did extraordinarily well financially and the company was one of the leaders of the independent film revolution of the 1990s. In 1993 Miramax was purchased for $75 million by the Walt Disney Company.