Working Title

• Founded in 1984 by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe 1984, Working Title is now the most successful British film production company.

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Film Maths

• Films + American stars = Appeal to international market (& success for the British film industry)

• This approach has provoked criticism about the ‘mid-Atlantic’ nature of the films.

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The British film industry dilemma:

• Working Title want to make European films for a worldwide audience.

• They want to imbue them with European ideas and influences and they couldn’t do these things without the backing of a major Hollywood studio.

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History of WT

• Working Title founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1984

• 1985• First Working Title film= “My Beautiful

Laundrette” (The first of a series of collaborations with Channel Four Films )

• 15 = Number of WT films produced in the 1980s

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History of WT

• 1988 - Production deal with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

• 1991 - WT sets up Hollywood office• 1992 - PolyGram (a European music and

media company) buys Working Title.• Sarah Radclyffe leaves to set up her own

production company - She’s replaced by Eric Fellner

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History of WT

• 1994 - Four Weddings and a Funeral= A big box office success due to the access to the US market provided by Polygram.• 1998 - Polygram bought by Universal, a Seagram

company• 2000 - Seagram is bought by Vivendi, the French

multimedia conglomerateWorking Title is now owned by Universal, which is in turn owned by Vivendi.

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History of WT

• $35m = The amount of money WT can spend on a film before consulting with Universal

• WT2 - Set up to encourage new British filmmakers.

• Billy Elliot (Dir. Stephen Daldry, 1999)• WT2 did not need the approval of Universal• WT2 no longer exists•

Unique:

• There is no other British Film Company like Working Title

• It is allowed freedom to make creative decisions but it is owned by a conglomerate

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Safety Net

• £13m - Budget for Captain Corelli’s Mandolin• £9.8m - UK Box Office takings• The protection of Universal means that

Working Title was able to survive this disappointing performance.

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Some key Working Title films:

Some Statistics:

• Number of films made (to date) by Working Title - 95

• Amount of money made by these films- $4.5 billion

• Number of Academy Awards won - 6• Number of BAFTA Awards won - 26•