Working Title Films was co-founded in 1983 and produced successful British films throughout the 1980s. In 1992, Polygram became their financial backer and produced more hits. Polygram was later sold to Universal Studios in 1999. Working Title has had a long and successful partnership with Universal and Studio Canal to produce British-focused films with international appeal through co-productions and distribution deals. While most have been profitable, some larger budget films have lost money. Working Title's model of collaborating with major studios has helped sustain the British film industry by funding character-driven films for worldwide audiences.

1. Working Title Films was co-founded by producers Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in
1983.
1985 1987 1989
Very British films, with mainly British cast. All films were successful.
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2. In 1992 Polygram becomes Working Titles financial backer and in
association with Polygram Filmed Entertainment produce a string of
hits. Sarah Radclyffe leaves and Eric Fillner joins.
Polygram Filmed Entertainment became a European competitor to
Hollywood.
1994
Budget = $6 million
Box office = $244 million
1995
Film distributor, co-
owned by Polygram
Filmed Entertainment
and Universal Pictures.
Distributes Polygram’s
films in the US and
Canada.
Incredibly
successful
British
film
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3. 1996 1997 1998
All very British films which have an appeal to the US and all coproduced by
Polygram and distributed by Gramercy.
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4. In 1999 Polygram was sold and became part of
Universal Studios.
Although contractually allowed to produce any film
with a budget of up to $35 million, on a practical
basis, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner consult with studio
executives at Working Title's parent company
NBCUniversal.
1999
Notting Hill becomes the first film to be released
under the new partnership. It embodies the working
model that has seen Working Title be so successful - a
British film with American funding and an appeal to a
US audience.
Budget = $43 million
Box Office = $363,889,700
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5. 2001
Budget = $26 million
Box office = $281,929,795
2000
Budget = £3 million
Box office = £72,853,509
2002
Budget = $30 million
Box office = $130,549,455
WT2
In Partnership with both Universal and Studio Canal, Working
Title continued to release successful British films.
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6. 2003
Budget = $40 million
Box office = $160,583,018
2003
Budget = $45 million
Box office = $246,942,017
2004
Budget = $31 million
Box office = $41,512,007
2004
Budget = $6 million
Box office = $30,039,392
2005
Budget = $28 million
Box office = $121,147,947
2007
Budget = $30 million
Box office = $129,266,061
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7. 2010
Budget = $100 million
Box office = $94,882,549
2009
Budget = $50 million
Box office = $36,348,784
It is not always a success story for Working Title though. There have been
several cases where big budgets have been spent on films, only for them to flop
at the box office.
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8. To be able to explain media ownership in the film industry (level 2)
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9. The Working Title token US star…

10. To be able to explain media ownership in the film industry (level 2)
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11. To be able to explain media ownership in the film industry (level 2)
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12. To be able to explain media ownership in the film industry (level 2)
To be able to analyse media ownership with reference to case studies (level 3)
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13. To be able to explain media ownership in the film industry (level 2)
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14. Over in the US…
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16. 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.”
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17. The British film industry dilemma:
Do you:
Make culturally specific films which appeal to a national (limited) audience?
OR
Make broader, generic films with an international (wider) appeal?
Working Title want to make European films for a worldwide audience. They want
to imbue them with European ideas and influences and they can’t do these things
without the backing of a major Hollywood studio.
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18. Working Title do have a stigma attached to them. They are often seen as romantic
comedy/British heritage film makers, who use American actors and stereotypical
images of Britain to appeal to a mass market. This has lead to them being labelled as
mid-Atlantic producers of films and not British.
“ The Working Title philosophy has always been to make films for an audience - by
that I mean play in a multiplex. We totally believe in this because we know it is the
only hope we have of sustaining the UK film industry. ”
Working Titles ideology is to make character driven films, with engaging
narratives that would appeal to all, not just packaging for certain territories.
They want to work with home grown material and utilise others to distribute and
market.
A different notion of British Cinema?
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