Warp Films and Working Title Films are two British film production companies that differ in several key ways. Warp Films is more traditionally British, producing films focused on domestic stories and audiences with less American influence. Working Title has stronger ties to American partners like Universal Studios and is known for bigger-budget films that appeal more broadly. Both companies started by producing short films that led to funding for feature-length productions. However, Working Title is now a larger company better able to utilize larger budgets for effects-heavy genres like sci-fi that Warp Films typically avoids for financial reasons.

1. Warp Films vs Working Title Films

2. Warp Films
Warp Films are an independent film and television company
based in Sheffield and London, with a further associated
company Warp Films Australia based in Melbourne, Australia. The
company was established in 1999 by Warp Records’ founding
partners, Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett. It was initially created
with financial support from a charity, NESTA (National
Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) to produce
short films, but later went on to produce full length feature films,
after sourcing other funding.
After the death of Rob Mitchell in 2001, Beckett decided to
continue with Warp Films and enlisted the expertise of Sheffield
friend Mark Herbert (who had just produced the commended
first series of Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights for Channel 4)
to run the company.

3. Working Title Films
Working Title Films is a British film production company who
are owned by Universal Studios (who are actually owned by
Comcast Corporation themselves). The company was founded
by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983, and is based in
London. In 1992, PolyGram (a major label record company
started by Philips and Siemens in 1979) became the company’s
backer. The merged company went on to produce a variety of
films for PolyGram's London-based production company
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
Working Title is known for producing feature films, along with
several television productions. Today, the co-chairpersons of
the company are Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan.

4. Famous Films
Working Title
• Drop Dead Fred (1991)
• Barton Fink (1991)
• Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
• Dead Man Walking (1995)
• French Kiss (1995)
• The Borrowers (1997)
• Nottinghill (1999)
• Billy Elliot (2000)
• Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
• 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)
• Ali G Indahouse (2002)
• Love Actually (2003)
• Thunderbirds (2004)
• Shaun of the Dead (2004)
• Pride and Prejudice (2005)
• Nanny McPhee (2006)
• Hot Fuzz (2007)
• Definitely, Maybe (2008)
• The Boat That Rocked (2009)
• Paul (2011)
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
• I Give It A Year (2013)
• The World’s End (2013)
• Theory of Everything (2014)
(Many of these films were created in conjunction
with Universal and Studio Canal.)
Warp Films
• My Wrongs#8245-8249 & 117 (2002) – a short
film (Warp’s first production), it won the award
for Best Short Film at the 2003 BAFTA Film
Awards and became the first short film DVD
single in the UK market.
• Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)
• This is England (2006)
• Grow Your Own (2007)
• A Complete History of My Sexual Failures
(2008)
• Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo (2008)
• Four Lions (2010)
• This is England ‘86 (2010)
• Submarine (2010)
• Tyrannosaur (2011)
• Kill List (2011)
• This is England ‘88 (2011) (TV)
• This is England ‘90 (2015) (TV)

5. Warp Films: The First Film
The first film that Warp Film produced was a short film
called My Wrongs#8245-8249 & 117, in 2002. It was written
and directed by Chris Morris, and was produced by Mark
Herbert. It starred Paddy Considine as a mentally
disturbed man who was taking care of his friend’s Pinscher
(a breed of dog), whilst he’s away. The dog talks to him
and convinces the nameless protagonist that he is on trial
for everything he's done wrong in his life, and the dog is
his lawyer. Unfortunately, the dog tends to make things
worse for him, and the man's life falls further into
disorder.
It was extremely successful and won a BAFTA award in
2003 for the ‘Best Short Film’, and following this
became the first short film DVD single in the
UK market.

6. Working Title: The First Film
Working Title’s first production was My
Beautiful Laundrette, which was produced with
Channel 4 Films in 1985. It’s a British comedy-
drama film that was written by Hanif Kureishi,
directed by Stephen Frears, and produced by
Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe.
It’s set in London during the contemporary
Thatcher era, as reflected in the controversial
and often comical relationships between
different ethnic communities. The story
focuses on Omar, a young Pakistani man living
in London, and his reunion and eventual
romance with his old friend, a street punk
named Johnny.

7. Funding
When it comes to funding, Mark Herbert from Warp Films admitted that “everyone loves a
reason to say no, and that’s where short films come in. You can go to a film festival and meet
with a funder, but they’ve probably got 20 meetings with other people like you over 2 days,
and they’re only going to commit to say, three films, so you always need to have something
up your sleeve.” However, it appears that if you do manage to get some funding for a short
film, and you make a good enough job of it (like Warp Pictures did with My Wrongs#8245-
8249 & 117 ), you can create enough interest to receive funding from other funders to make
more short films, or even bigger feature films. This is what happened to Warp Pictures. But
sometimes, it seems that to get funding for a film, you need to make it before you can receive
the funding. As ridiculous as this may sound, funders are willing to invest in something much
more, once they can see the direction it’s going in. Mark Herbert said that “with Dead Man’s
Shoes … and This is England, we were always going to make them anyway. Me and Shane
(Meadows, director of This is England) went to Grimsby Docks (where Mark had worked as a
student) because we wanted to make this film on his camera at the docks because everyone
there finished at midday and for 7 hours, you had something that looked like 1980s England,
no one around and clear of cars.”
Warp Pictures were initially funded by the charity, NESTA (National Endowment for Science,
Technology and the Arts) to create a series of short films, which is where they received the
funding to create My Wrongs#8245-8249 & 117 - their first BAFTA winning
short film.

8. Funding
Working Title is a large and complicated company, as
there are many other companies involved with it, such as
Comcast Corporation (the owner) and its parent
companies, Universal Studios and NCBUniversal. It was
Tim Bevan, the founder and now co-chairman of Working
Title, who first funded the company in 1983, but other
parts of the company (such as Universal studios) have
been known to fund some of Working Title’s films that
they are interested in, particularly those which were
thought to appeal to an American audience. PolyGram, as
Working Title’s backer also provides Working Title with
some funding.

9. Distribution
In 2005, Warp Films launched a distribution arm, which was DVD
driven, although Warp Films also aims for their films to have some
theatrical presence. The focus on DVDs is largely due to the fact that
it’s difficult for their films to compete with big Hollywood
blockbusters which grace UK cinemas, as Warp Films are a small
company who work with lesser budgets than the Hollywood giants.
It will sub-distribute to other distribution companies in Europe, as
the music part of the Warp company also does. This technique was
devised to make the company more attractive to filmmakers, as it
showcases their ability to distribute in other markets.
However, Warp Films do not always distribute their own films, and
have secured a contract with Optimum Releasing (now
StudioCanal), who distribute some of their films for
them.

10. Distribution
Universal Studios are Working Title’s main distributor.
However, Working Title must pitch their film to
Universal Studios, before they decide if they want to
distribute it, and where they want to distribute it.
Universal are mainly interested in films that appeal to
an American audience, and so will distribute Working
Title’s films of this nature, particularly in the USA,
where their company is based. If Universal Studios
don’t want to distribute a Working Title film, or don’t
want to distribute it in areas Working Title want it to be
seen in, Working Title seek another distributor, such as
20th Century Fox who helped to distribute ‘Barton Fink’,
along with Universal Studios, but in different locations.

11. ‘Britishness’
Warp Pictures are very British, as their films are made and mainly
aimed at the British public, particularly with films like This Is England
which is set in 1980s Britain. Also, as they have their own
distribution arm, and also have a distribution alliance with
StudioCanal (a French company),they come across very little
American influence, unlike Working Title who have American
partners and distributors, giving their films a much more American
slant. Although they are involved with a French distribution
company, it’s rare that their films will have a French twist within
them, as the French film market is relatively small in comparison to
the British market, where the majority of Warp Films’ creations are
aimed.
Sometimes, Warp Films will have a purposeful slight American angle
to them, just in case they can crack the American market, but
normally their aim is to appeal to their home audience.

12. ‘Britishness’
Although Working Title is technically a British
film company, it receives a lot of American
influence from its partners and distributors.
Working Title need their films to appeal to an
American market to get both funding (in a lot
of cases) and to secure Universal Studios as its
distributor, otherwise they have to go in
search of another distributor, which can be a
time consuming and costly task.

13. Dead Man’s Shoes
• Plot - A disaffected soldier (Considine) returns to his hometown to get even with the thugs
who brutalised his mentally-challenged brother (Kebbell) years ago.
• Genre – crime, thriller, drama
• Director – Shane Meadows
• Writers – Paddy Considine, Shane Meadows
• Stars - Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell
• Audience – the film is a 15 rating, so nobody under 15 should watch the film, unless a
specific government of the area in which the film is being shown chooses to change the
BBFC rating. However, I think that the film is more specifically aimed at an audience older
than 15 anyway, probably those in their late teens and twenties, due to the violent nature
of the film, and the concept of war which will be more familiar and ‘understandable’ to
those who are older. The themes within the film would also suggest that it’s aimed at a
male audience, who stereotypically enjoy watching scenes of gore and violence more than
women.

14. Four Weddings and a Funeral
• Plot - Over the course of five social occasions, a committed
bachelor must consider the idea that he may have discovered
love.
• Genre – romantic comedy
• Director – Mike Newell
• Writer – Richard Curtis
• Stars – Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, James Fleet
• Audience – The film is rated ‘R’, meaning that the film is only
relevant to under 17s, if there is an adult present. Therefore, the
film is aimed at those 17 or over, because it is easiest for this age
group to access it. The genre of romance would suggest that it is
aimed more at the female market than the male market because
generally, females are more interested in the concept of
romance.

15. This is England
• Plot - A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983.
He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a
fight. They become his new best friends, even like family. It is based on
experiences of the director, Shane Meadows.
• Genre – Crime, drama
• Director – Shane Meadows
• Writer – Shane Meadows
• Stars – Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley
• Audience – The film is rated an 18, meaning that in normal
circumstances, nobody over the age of 18 should watch it because of
the violent scenes within it. I think that the film is more specifically
aimed at 18-29 year olds, as this is around the age of the characters in
the film, so therefore it would be more relatable for this age group.
However, in general, it is mainly aimed at British males because the film
is set in England, using mainly male characters in the lead roles.
Violence is also a key motif within the film, which is stereotypically
considered to be a more entertaining topic for males.

16. The Borrowers
• Plot - A secret family of four-inch people living inside the walls of
a house must save their home from an evil real estate developer.
• Genre – Comedy, family, fantasy
• Director – Peter Hewitt
• Writers – Mary Norton (novels), Gavin Scott (screenplay)
• Stars – John Goodman, Jim Broadbent, Mark Williams
• Audience – This film is aimed at families, and therefore contains
‘soft’ and imaginary topics, with the aim of entertaining its
audience. It’s official rating is a ‘PG’, standing for parental
guidance, suggesting that it’s at a families disgression whether
they watch it or not, but it’s unlikely that adults would watch this
film without their children, as it would be considered ‘childish’
because it doesn’t deal with any adult content. It simply aims to
amuse children’s minds.

17. Film Case Study: Four Lions
• Plot - a group of radicalised young British Muslim
men aspire to be suicide bombers, and set out to
train for and commit an act of terror.
• Genre – black comedy, crime, drama
• Director – Christopher Morris
• Writer – Christopher Morris
• Stars – Will Adamsdale, Riz Ahmed, Adeel Akhtar
• Morris spent three years researching the
material for his script by speaking to terrorism
experts, police, the secret service, and imams, as
well as ordinary Muslims, to go on to actually
write the script in 2007.In a separate interview,
he asserts that the research predated the 7th July
2005 London bombings.
• Originally, the film idea was rejected by Chanel 4
and the BBC for being too controversial, but
funding was eventually secured in October 2008
Warp Films in conjunction with Film 4
Productions.

18. A Film Case Study: Love Actually
• Plot – the film follows eight very different couples in
dealing with their love lives, all with a very loose
connection to each other. It’s set around London at
Christmas time.
• Genre – romantic comedy
• Director – Richard Curtis
• Writer – Richard Curtis
• Stars – Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Martine
McChutcheon, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma
Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kiera Knightley, Rowan
Atkinson, Bill Nighy
• The film aimed to appeal to both a UK and an American
audience, but was marketed differently in the UK to
the USA, largely because the films had different unique
selling points for each country. The film is based in
London, but included a trip to America, where the
states were shown in a very positive light. American
actors and actresses were also used in the film, making
the film attractive to an American audience. However,
the stars featured in the film were probably the most
attractive element of the film to a UK audience,
whereas the USA probably hadn’t heard of the majority
of the British stars. When the film was released in the
UK, the DVD cover and billboard advertisements
showed ten images of famous stars that the British
public would recognise and be interested in to
showcase them, but when the same advertisements
were released in the USA, only four images were
present, although they were presented in the same
layout – arranged around a bow to connote that the
DVD would be a perfect Christmas present. The images
used in the American cover aren’t aiming to broadcast
the stars, so much as give some insight into the
narrative.
UK DVD cover
US DVD cover

19. How are the two companies
different?
Although both British, the two film companies are very different. Warp films are
more traditionally British, whereas Working Title have much more of an American
influence, but have made more well-known films in conjunction with their American
business partners. Working Titles are also a bigger company than Warp Films, and
therefore manage to utilise bigger budgets to make bigger feature films with more
special effects, particularly films of the sci-fi genre. Warp Films tend to steer clear of
science-fiction films because they cost so much to make that it would have to be a
guaranteed success to make its money back, and if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t have
the financial means to get themselves out of that hole. However, Warp Films
manage to distribute a lot of their own films through their own distribution arm,
whereas Working Title’s main distributor is Universal Studios.
It can also be said that Warp take ideas in their films which people in Britain are
likely to be able to relate to, even the gritty stuff, to appeal to their home audience,
whereas Working Title tend to concentrate on more fictional narratives with more
‘soft’ concepts, which appeal to a wider audience, so that they can be distributed in
America by Universal Studios.
Furthermore, Warp Films are in synergy with their distributors, whereas Working
Title is based around vertical integration between them and Comcast Corporation,
Universal Studios and NCBUniversal.

20. Warp Films and Synergy
From time to time, Warp Films ventures into TV production. This is because due to
cross media convergence - the way we enjoy films, TV and other media has
changed, and Warp solely committing to either TV or film would go against this
convergence that society experiences. Producing both film and television enhances
Warp in a variety of different ways, including that:
• It produces a more stable source of income as distribution is less of a gamble.
For instance, TV always has an audience because there’s always someone
watching each channel. Therefore, putting a film or programme on TV means
that it will generate some kind of audience, giving directors more freedom in
what they can produce. However, committing to just TV would be a mistake,
because feature films will create more money from cinematic release than TV
release, in general.
• It establishes links with other European partners in both the TV and film
industries.
• TV can allow diversity which cannot be offered by films.
• TV is a good place to source new talent, as most film careers begin with TV
because it’s a much easier sector to get into.
• This is England was a TV success, encouraging Warp to continue working in the
TV sector somewhat.

21. Working Title and Vertical Integration
Working Title is part of Comcast Corporation’s vertical
integration process, where they have taken over
Universal, NCBUniversal and Working Title, so that they
can acquire stages of production and distribution. This
has several advantages, including:
• The company has more control over the whole
process.
• It’s cost effective because they don’t have to pay
other companies to do anything.
• They can rationalise management and have one
director over the whole system.