THE 67TH ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS : Oscar Nods Mark Independents’ Day : Independently produced movies garner 33 of 86 nominations. But studio money is still in the picture.

As usual, Harvey Weinstein was not at a loss for words: “I’m drinking sweet vintage champagne through the faucets of Miramax. This is the best year ever for the independents!”

With 22 Oscar nominations under Miramax’s belt--a record for an independent film company--Weinstein is right. Films produced and/or released by the independent film companies this year scored an amazing 33 of this year’s 86 Oscar nominations.

The Samuel Goldwyn Co. reaped another five nominations; Gramercy Pictures, four; Sony Pictures Classics, two; and New Line Cinema and its sister company Fine Line Features each grabbed one.

And, of the five nominees in the best picture category, three came from companies that were independents at the time the pictures were produced: “Pulp Fiction,” Miramax; “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” Gramercy Pictures, and “The Shawshank Redemption,” Castle Rock Entertainment. Castle Rock is now owned by Turner.

“This is definitely the strongest year ever for the independents,” says Frank Lieberman, a spokesman for the 67th annual Academy Awards. “If you’ve been reading the headlines for the past year, the independents’ strength has been building. Just looking at the nominations for best picture, the key seems to be found in best original screenplay.” Many of the studio films have been adaptations, sequels or remakes, passing up more adventuresome independent film. “A film’s success starts with the words on the paper, and that’s what these nominations seem to be saying,” he added.

“ ‘Gump’ did what it was supposed to, because it was great,” says Russell Schwartz, president of Gramercy. “But what the nominations really show is that producers and directors are still at their best when they’re left alone.”

So will the studios now take a cue from the independents? “No, they’ll probably say this is a cycle,” Schwartz says. “Studios are multilevel financiers who have been (covering) themselves by hooking up with independents.” Gramercy is a co-venture with Universal and independent Polygram Filmed Entertainment, which co-produced the three Gramercy nominees (“Four Weddings,” “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” and the foreign entry “Before the Rain”), as well as Fox’s “Nell.”

Miramax has a track record of being the Lotto winner on independent Oscar nominations. This year, its “Pulp” got seven; “Bullets Over Broadway,” seven; “Red,” three; “Tom & Viv,” two; and “Heavenly Creatures,” “Queen Margot” and “Strawberry and Chocolate,” one each.

Last year was also a strong year for Miramax, with “The Piano” helping to up its total nominations to 10, and the company received 12 nominations the year before.

Aside from Miramax, Goldwyn has five nominations for “The Madness of King George” and “Eat Drink Man Woman.” Fine Line has one for “Hoop Dreams” and New Line has one for “The Mask.” Sony Pictures Classics has two foreign-language nominees, for “Farinelli” and “Burnt by the Sun.”