Weinstein: "Artist" was a million-to-one shot

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood executive who brought a black-and-white silent film from France and saw it win five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, described "The Artist" as a million-to-one shot that celebrates risk-taking.

"Who in 2012 would think that a movie like that could work?" Weinstein said on "CBS This Morning." "Certainly, you know, it wasn't the common wisdom. And here it is, it's reached the pinnacle of American success and won five Oscars."

When asked by Gayle King what made him believe the film could be a success, Weinstein replied, "I saw that the movie made people joyful. ... It's not a message movie, but it's got a message in it - it's singing, it's dancing, it's fun. You walk out of the theater enchanted. It's really an experience, almost like seeing a Broadway show for movie ticket prices."

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He said that the film's success at the Oscars should be an inspiration to other filmmakers. "It just feels so good," he said, "to make hopefully a contribution to the idea that anybody who is watching this show now, or anybody who watches the Oscars, who has a dream, to say 'I'm going to make a certain kind of movie and it's against all odds,' that you can win it.

"That's the great thing about our country. This was a million-to-one shot. Maybe a 2 million to one shot, and that shot came in."

"Do you think this is an inspiration for people to go out there and follow their dream?" asked Rose.

"One hundred percent," Weinstein said. "I think that's the foundation of our country. . . . Immigrants built this country because they had a dream. I think in some ways 'The Artist' celebrates that. It enforces that notion and celebrates it at the same time."

To watch the complete interview with Harvey Weinstein click on the video player above.