Working Title Films is the most successful British film production company, co-founded in 1984 by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. They have achieved success by making broadly appealing films with European ideas and American stars that appeal to international audiences. This approach has attracted some criticism of their "mid-Atlantic" nature. Working Title has benefited from partnerships with major Hollywood studios that provide financial stability and access to international markets. They focus on character-driven narratives and have produced over 95 films that have earned $4.5 billion globally. Their model has helped sustain the British film industry despite predictions of its decline.

1. Year 12 Audience & Institutions
Case Study:
Working Title Films

2. How many of these films
can you name?
Empire Movie Awards – Working Title

3. Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan have achieved the near
impossible
They’ve created a wildly successful production
company in a country where the film business is
subject to repeated predictions of imminent doom.
Eric Fellner Tim Bevan

4. 1984
Working Title founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah
Radclyffe
Now the most successful British film production
company

5. 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.

6. The British film industry dilemma:
Do you:
A) Make culturally specific films which appeal
to a limited audience?
OR
B) Make broader, generic films with a wider
appeal?

7. 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.

8. The Working Title Movie Template
British Film + American star = $$$$$
Appeal to international market (& success for
the British Film Industry)
This approach has provoked much criticism about
the ‘mid-Atlantic’ nature of the films.

9. Working Title Films began life co-producing the short film
The Man Who Shot Christmas (1984).
This led to their first film for Channel Four and the first of
many landmark Working Title Films - My Beautiful
Laundrette (1985) Directed by Stephen Frears.
In 2009 still the most successful British film production
company ever.
“Their films have grossed more than £1.2 billion
Since 1984, and that is a conservative estimate.”

10. Why UK/US Co-productions?
According to Bevan: "Before co-productions we had been
independent producers, but it was very hand to mouth. We
would develop a script, that would take about 5% of our
time; we'd find a director, that'd take about 5% of the time
and then we'd spend 90% of the time trying to juggle
together deals from different sources to finance those
films. The films were suffering because there was no real
structure and the company was always virtually bankrupt."

11. History of WT:
1984
Working Title founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah
Radclyffe
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

12. History of WT:
1988
Production deal with PolyGram Filmed
Entertainment
1991
WT sets up Hollywood office

13. 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
History of WT:

14. 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

15. History of WT:
1998
Polygram bought by Universal, a Seagram company
2000
Seagram is bought by Vivendi, the French multimedia
conglomerate
WorkingTitle is now owned by Universal, which is in
turn owned by Vivendi

17. $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

18. 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

19. 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

20. Some key Working Title films:
Film Budget (£m) Box Office UK (£m)
Bean (1996) 16.2 17.9
Elizabeth (1997) 13 5.5
Notting Hill (1998) 15 31
Bridget Jones (2000) 14 42
About a Boy (2001) 13.5 16.8
Love, Actually (2004) 30 36.2
Wimbledon (2004) 20 (est) 6.8

21. Some numbers:
4 or 5
The number of films Working Title produce each year
1
Number of ‘risk free films’ Working Title will invest in each
year
2
Number of mainstream films WT will invest in each year
2
Will invest in projects they feel passionate about (which
have risk factors involved)

22. Some numbers:
95
Number of films made (to date) by Working Title
$4.5 billion
Amount of money made by these films
6
Number of Academy Awards won
26
Number of BAFTA Awards won

23. Successful Relationships
Working Title make films with 3rd
parties e.g. the Coen
Brothers and people they know well and have built up
a good working relationship with e.g. Richard Curtis

24. Notable films
TheSoloist
State of Play
The Boat That Rocked
Wild Child
Burn After Reading,
The Interpreter
About a Boy
Notting Hill

25. Elizabeth
Fargo
Dead Man Walking
Bean
High Fidelity
Johnny English
Billy Elliot
Four Weddings and a Funeral

26. Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Love Actually
Shaun of the Dead
Pride & Prejudice
Nanny McPhee
United 93

27. What does Eric Fellner have to say?
Working Title focus on character and narrative (as
opposed to action/ special effects etc.)
They often create films of cross-genres
Fellner feels the simple essence of a successful film is
a really good screenplay and sense of humanity; that
the most important thing is for the audience to
identify and empathise with characters

28. What does Eric Fellner have to say?
Working Title have aimed to create an industry that
is exportable and global
There is an active aggressive industry in Hollywood
that we can never compete with
What we should focus on is making films we believe
in and exporting them

29. What does Eric Fellner have to say?
We should dissipate the notion of the British Film Industry
just being British
Instead we should work with home grown material and
work with others to distribute, market etc
Characters should be fun and engaging; you should want to
spend time with them (regardless of whether they’re
simplistic or stereotypical)
This is the focus for Working Title, rather than trying to
package films/ characters for American audiences
Fellner says that the British film industry is “thriving” and
can ride out recessions

30. Homework:
Next lesson you will pitch your own film idea. You
need to produce a synopsis of a film you think would
fit into the Working Title production style.

31. You must explain why it is suitable for
a Working Title production.
Your synopsis should include comments on:
Genre
Plot
Setting
Stars
Intended audience.