 Logo used since 2008 | |
| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Film production |
| Founded | 1983; 43 years ago (1983) |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Number of locations |
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Key people | |
| Parent | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (1992–1999) Universal Pictures (1999–present) |
| Divisions |
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| Website | workingtitlefilms |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Working Title Films Limited, formerlyVisionensure Limited andWorking Title Limited, is a Britishfilm andtelevisionproduction company that is a subsidiary ofNBCUniversal, which is itself a division ofComcast. The company was founded byTim Bevan andSarah Radclyffe in 1983. Bevan andEric Fellner are now the co-chairmen of the company.
Bevan and Radclyffe were partners in pop music promotional company, Aldabra, and set up Working Title Films inLondon in 1983 where they were commissioned by newly created UK broadcaster,Channel 4, to make a television film,My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), directed byStephen Frears.My Beautiful Laundrette was a success at theEdinburgh Film Festival and received a theatrical release, where it was successful internationally. Accountant Graham Bradstreet joined as a third partner in 1986.[2]
A World Apart was entered in competition at the1988 Cannes Film Festival and won theSpecial Grand Prize of the Jury.The Tall Guy (1988) saw the feature film debut of screenwriterRichard Curtis and directorMel Smith.[2]
In 1988,Michael Kuhn ofPolyGram started to work with the company and in 1989 PolyGram acquired 49% of the company and they jointly launched Manifesto Film Sales.[3] Manifesto's first third-party pick up for distribution was theCoen brothers'Barton Fink (1991).[4] Bradstreet left the company in 1990 and Radclyffe a year later, withEric Fellner, a fellowindependent film producer, joining the company in 1991.[5][3][2] The same year, Kuhn set upPolyGram Filmed Entertainment which acquired 100% of Working Title in 1992.[3][2]
Paul Webster set up an office inLos Angeles in 1991 and producerLiza Chasin was appointed as president of production.[6] Webster produced the company's first American films,Rubin & Ed andDrop Dead Fred. Working Title also madeTim Robbins' directorial debut,Bob Roberts (1992).[2]
The company was incorporated and registered as a private limited company in the UK on 14 October 1992, as Visionensure Limited. On 18 December 1992 its name was changed to Working Title Limited, before rebranding as Working Title Films Limited on 20 February 1995.[1]
Gramercy Pictures began distributing the company's films in the United States, starting withPosse (1993). In 1994, the company'sFour Weddings and a Funeral, written by Curtis, became thehighest-grossing British film of all time with a gross of $245 million.[3][2] They also made the Coen brothers'The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). In 1996, Robbins'Dead Man Walking was the company's first film to win anAcademy Award, withSusan Sarandon winning theAcademy Award for Best Actress. The Coen brothers'Fargo (1996) won two Academy Awards the following year. The company had another major success withBean (1997) directed by Smith and co-written by Curtis, grossing $251 million.[2]
In 1998, PolyGram was sold to theSeagram company and merged withMCA Music Entertainment, to formUniversal Music Group. PolyGram Films was folded intoUniversal Pictures. In 1999,Seagram sold the bulk of its library of PolyGram films released up until 31 March 1996 toMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).[7] 1999 also saw the company's highest-grossing film to date withNotting Hill, again written by Curtis, with a gross of $364 million.[citation needed]
Around 2003, New Zealand-born producerTim White was appointed head of the Australian branch of Working Title Films, and during this time executive producedGregor Jordan'sNed Kelly.[8][9]
Although contractually allowed to produce any film with a budget of up to $35 million, on a practical basis, Bevan and Fellner consult with studio executives at Working Title's parent companyNBCUniversal.[10] Working Title company renewed its first look deal with Universal Pictures in 2020.[11]
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 byNatascha Wharton, and has produced films that includeBilly Elliot,Shaun of the Dead andThe Calcium Kid.[5]
Working Title has been active in television production since the beginning of the 1990s.[12] In February 2010, Working Title officially launched its television division as a joint venture with parent company NBCUniversal, itself owned byComcast.[13] Since then, they have produced content for both British and American television.[14][15] Notable productions and co productions developed by Working Title Television (WTTV)[16] include NBC'sAbout a Boy, andShowtime'sThe Tudors.[12]
WTTV has offices in London and Los Angeles.[17][18]
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 fromLondon 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 theIndependent Television Commission, which was overseeing the bid process, to fail the quality threshold.[19]
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