2. Ownership
Celador was founded in 1983 by Jasper Carrott and Paul Smith.
It was bought out in 1983 by Complete Communications.
However later, Celador was sold by Complete Communications to a Dutch
company called 2WayTraffic (along with the rights to its shows Who Wants to be
a Millionaire and The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna).
Celador’s most successful film was Slumdog Millionaire (2009) in which they
were associated with. Overall, as of now, it has grossed $377 million.
Celador then bought itself back out by after becoming successful enough, which
then made it an independent company. Jasper Carrott now owns all branches of
the company again, including Films, radio, theatrical, and music.
3. Operating Model
Unlike many other companies, Celador make films on a project-by-project basis/tactic. They use ‘freelance’
staff in their projects, which means that none of them get permanent, stable jobs (they get paid for
contracts).
The profit made from Celador’s earlier shows allowed them to hire more freelance staff and better
equipment for future projects. This meant that after every profitable project, the next project would have a
bigger budget. For example; Who Wants to be a Millionaire’s profits were invested into the budget for The
Descent. As Celador was a small company, they initially got their funding via bank loans, personal funds or
investors. This is known as getting funds through Capitalisation.
For The Descent, Celador sold the distribution rights to Pathé before the film was made – they then used this
money to co-fund the movie. The distribution rights allowed for the film to be released in Cinemas, on DVD,
in the UK and other countries.
Later on, Celador sold the rights for their movies and their show(s) to big production companies and
distributors for a profitable fee before buying themselves back once they became more successful.
4. Products
In 1999, Celador started production on its first movie, Dirty Pretty Things. It was released in 2002 and received a
Metascore™ of 78/100. It grossed $161,735 as of 2 years after release.
In 15 years they have released 7 movies, with one in production due for 2015 (Selma). These movies are:
Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
The Descent (2005)
Separate Lies (2005)
Slumdog Millionaire (2009)
The Descent: Part Two (2009)
The Scouting Book for Boys (2009)
Centurion (2010)
As of 2014, Celador are working on;
1 movie (Selma),
Radio broadcasting (2 stations named The Breeze and Jack FM),
Theatre productions such as stage shows,
Music publishing for small artists, film soundtracks and TV music.
5. Marketing Position/Competitors
Even though they are a small company, Celador Films are a rather successful company. Celador has some rather big competitors which compete with
Celador in cinema screenings, ticket sales, and DVD/Blu-Ray sales. The Celador movie in question is The Descent.
Competitor 1: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Competitor Movie: Spiderman 3
Spiderman 3 had a budget of £157 million, and it made back £205 million. This is a profit of £48 million, which is similar to The Descent. This means that the descent
is much more successful in terms of budget and profit.
Competitor 2: Vertigo Films
Competitor Movie: Football Factory
This movie had a budget of £623,000, and made back exactly the same amount in the Box Office. This means that it broke even, and made nowhere near the profit
or percentage profit of The Descent. The Descent is a much more successful film than The Football Factory.
Competitor 3: Film4
Competitor Movie: This is England
The budget for This is England was £1.5 million. It only made back around £207,000 of that budget though, which means that it made a huge loss. The Descent is a
much more successful movie.
Overall, Celador is more successful than Sony, Vertigo and Film4 based on these films and these figures.
