Friday 7 December 2012

Working Title Films


Working Titile Films is a British film production company, based in London. The company was founded in 1983 by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe, both are film producers. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson. Eric Fellner and Bevan are now the co-owners of the company.

  • In 1992, PolyGram became the company's corporate backer. Radclyffe left Working Title, and Eric Fellner, a fellow independent film producer, joined the company.
  • Working Title produced a variety of films for PolyGram's London-based production company PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. Most notable films are Bean (1997) starring Rowan Atkinson,  The Big Lebowski (1998) and it's last film with Working Title, Notting Hill (1999).
  • In 1999, PolyGram was sold to Seagram and merged with MCA Music Entertainment, to form Universal Music Group. PolyGram Films was sold and folded into Universal Studios in 1999.

Working Title Films Subsidiaries:

Working Title Television
  • Working Title Television is a joint venture with NBCUniversal and will be based in London and Los Angeles. NBCUniversal is Working Title's parent company.
  • The London office will be overseen by WTTV's head of television (UK) Juliette Howell, who has worked as an executive producer in the BBC drama commissioning group and as drama commissioner and head of development for Film4, where her credits included Slumdog Millionaire and Shameless.
  • The company released a modernised version of the children's novels, The Borrowers in December 2011 and Abi Morgan's adaptation of Birdsong in January 2012
WT2 Productions

In 1999, Bevan and Fellner launched a subsidiary company named Working Title 2 Productions, commonly known as WT2. The company is an independent film production arm run by film producer Natascha Wharton, and has produced films that include Billy Elliot, Shaun of the Dead and The Calcium Kid.

1991 ITV franchise bid

In 1991, Working Title was involved in a bid for the London weekend ITV licence. Working Title, Mentorn, Palace and PolyGram wanted to take over from London Weekend Television and broadcast to London under the name London Independent Broadcasting. In the event LWT retained its licence; London Independent Broadcasting's proposals were deemed by the Independent Television Commission, which was overseeing the bid process, to fail the quality threshold.

Recent Films Working Title have produced

  • Paul (2011)
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)







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