Film 4

Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.

Film4 did not originally focus on broadcasting blockbusters, but nowadays broadcasts mainly mainstream Hollywood movies. The channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred around one genre, director or actor are shown. As Channel 4 also owns a film production company, Film4 Productions, it shows many of its in-house productions.

Occasional non-film (but film-related) programmes are also shown.

Wherever possible, films are shown in their correct aspect ratio. No digital on-screen graphics are superimposed. Under UK broadcasting rules, it was able to screen most films unedited and in earlier timeslots when it was a subscription channel, but these concessions were lost when it became free-to-air, and more adult material is now confined to after the 9pm watershed. Some films are also now edited to make them suitable for pre-watershed screenings, a decision which was criticised by viewers on the channel's now defunct internet forum.

To alert the public to it going free-to-air, Film4 launched a massive campaign directed by Kevin Spaceyfeaturing major celebrities advertising Film4 in odd ways. The slogan of the campaign was "FILMS FOR FREE". Examples include:

• Judi Dench in a lobster costume, operatically singing the words "Film Four!"
• Lucy Liu in a banner plane, insulting Ray Winstone and Christian Slater who have incorrectly erected a 'Film4 is free' sign, whilst her own banner is displayed upside-down.
• Ewan McGregor in a tomato costume, talking to Judi Dench about whether he is a fruit or a vegetable.
• Gael García Bernal putting leaflets, advertising Film4, onto cars and setting off their alarms. To which he then throws the remaining leaflets in the air.
• Willem Dafoe saying to one of the advertising campaigners (played by Mackenzie Crook), "First day? It'll get better."
• Rhys Ifans advertising the channel door-to-door, but often having a door slammed in his face.

These are some of the films that they produced 

• 24 Hour Party People (co-production with United Artists, UK Film Council and Baby Cow Productions)
• A Month in the Country (co-production with Euston Films)
• A Room with a View (co-production with Merchant Ivory Productions and Goldcrest Films)
• A Zed and Two Noughts (co-production with British Film Institute and Artificial Eye)
• And When Did You Last See Your Father?
• Beautiful Thing
• Birthday Girl
• Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
• Brassed Off (co-production with Miramax Films and Prominent Features)
• Brothers of the Head
• Buena Vista Social Club
• Buffalo Soldiers (film) (co-production with Good Machineand Miramax Films)
• Bunny and the Bull (co-production with Warp X Productions,Wild Bunch, Optimum Releasing, Screen Yorkshire and UK Film Council)
• Charlotte Gray (co-production with Ecosse Films andWarner Bros.)
• Dancer in the Dark
• Dead Man's Shoes
• Comrades (co-production with now-defunct National Film Finance Corporation)
• Death To Smoochy (co-production with Senator Film andWarner Bros.)
• Deep Water
• Dogma (produced by View Askew)
• East Is East
• Elizabeth (co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films)
• Enduring Love
• Fever Pitch
• Four Lions (co-production with Warp Films, Wild Bunch andOptimum Releasing)
• Four Weddings and a Funeral (co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films)

• Funny Games (co-production with Warner Independent Pictures and Tartan Films)
• Hallam Foe
• Happy-Go-Lucky (co-production with Ingenious Film Partners and Summit Entertainment)
• Hidden City
• In Bruges (co-production with Focus Features)
• Late Night Shopping
• Lucky Break (co-production with Paramount Pictures andMiramax Films)
• Me and You and Everyone We Know
• My Beautiful Laundrette (co-production with SAF Productions and Working Title Films)
• P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
• Red Monarch
• Series 7: The Contenders
• Sexy Beast (Co-production with Kanzaman, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Recorded Picture Company)
• Slumdog Millionaire (co-production with Fox Searchlight Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Pathé and Celador Films)
• The Crying Game (co-production with British Screen, Eurotrustees, Nippon Film Development and Finance and Palace Pictures)
• The Future is Unwritten: Joe Strummer
• The Last King of Scotland (co-production with DNA Filmsand Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (Co-production withUniversal Pictures and Tiger Aspect)
• The Lovely Bones (co-production with DreamWorks Pictures)
• The Madness of King George (co-production with The Samuel Goldwyn Company
• The Motorcycle Diaries
• The Pope Must Die (co production with Miramax Films, Palace Pictures and Michael White)
• The Straight Story (co-production with StudioCanal and Walt Disney Pictures)
• This Is England
• Touching the Void
• Trainspotting
• Venus (co-production with UK Film Council and Miramax Films)
• Wish You Were Here

Working Title

The Company 


http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/apr/16/business.hayfilmfestival2005


Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions. Eric Fellner and Bevan are now the co-owners of the company.

Working Title Films was co-founded by producers Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. In 1992, PolyGram became the company's corporate backer. Radclyffe left Working Title, and Eric Fellner, a fellow independent film producer, joined the company. The company produced a variety of films for PolyGram's London-based production company Poly gram Filmed Entertainment. An Anglo-Dutch film comp, PolyGram Films became a major Hollywood competitor. In 1999, PolyGram was sold to Seagram and merged with MCA Music Entertainment, to form Universal Music Group. PolyGram Films was merged and sold to Universal Studios in 1999.

Although contractually allowed to produce any film with a budget of up to $25 million, on a practical basis, Bevan and Fellner consult with studio executive at Working Title's parent company NBC Universal. Working Title is located in Oxford Street, London, and is known for having a limited number of employees. The company also has other offices located in Los Angeles, and Ireland.

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 Natascha Wharton, and has produced films that include Billy Elliot, Shaun of the Dead and The Calcium Kid.

• Six academy awards, 26 Bafta awards , 4 Oscars.
• Working titles films span a large genre to get a larger audience.
• working title have a formidable record of launching fresh talent, such as directors skehar Kapur and stephen frears.
• Working title also works closely with prestige austerest productions such as the coen Brothers, who did such films as 'O brother where art thou?' and 'Fargo'
• Commercially the most successful films they produce are romantic comedies, 'The Treasure' not only does it have the british actor Hugh Grant , but also the screen writer is star Richard Curtis.

Being bought by Polygram which in in itself has been taken over by Universal in 1999 has been liberating, now much less tome is spent trying to find money to fund a project now more time is spent developing decent scripts.

Working titles 2 films are currently distributed by Universal pictures, which also owns a 67% structure in the company. Studio Canal Co-produced.

The remaining shares are owned by the company's founder, BBC films and private investors.

Universal's involvement will vary widely from project to project, Tim Bevan gives two contrasting examples- 'Pride and Prejudice ' starring Keira Knightly $ 20 million budget and the 'Interpreter' $ 80 million pound budget. The Interpreter was a big movie so investors were more involved.

They were more clever and tactical about film projects in 2004

Working title has to make 1 big blockbuster a year to get there money back and then they could still do three or four smaller more discreet films as well. That leaves working title to still do the independent films.

Working title also have there own website, it has many features like video blogs (pictured above 'Paul').

Here is a list of all the films Working tile have produced.

  About a Boy (film)  

  Ali G Indahouse

  Atonement (film)

  Bean (film)

  The Big Lebowski

  Billy Elliot

  Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy

  The Boat That Rocked

  Bob Roberts

  The Borrowers (1997 film)

  Bridget Jones's Diary (film)

  Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film)

  Burn After Reading

  The Calcium Kid

  Captain Corelli's Mandolin (film)

  Catch a Fire (film)

  Chicago Joe and the Showgirl

  The Comic Strip

  Dead Man Walking (film)

  Definitely, Maybe

  Drop Dead Fred

  Edward II (film)

  Elizabeth (film)

  Elizabeth: The Golden Age

  Fargo (film)

  For Queen and Country

  40 Days and 40 Nights

  Four Weddings and a Funeral

  French Kiss (film)

  Frost/Nixon (film)

  Gone (film)

  Green Zone (film)

  The Guru (2002 film)

  The Hi-Lo Country

  Hippie Hippie Shake

  Hot Fuzz

  The Hudsucker Proxy

  Inside I'm Dancing

  The Interpreter

  Johnny English

  Johnny English Reborn

  Loch Ness (film)

  London Kills Me

  Long Time Dead

  Love Actually

  The Man Who Cried

  The Man Who Wasn't There

  Map of the Human Heart

  Mickybo and Me

  Moonlight and Valentino

  Mr. Bean's Holiday

  My Beautiful Laundrette

  My Little Eye

  Nanny McPhee

  Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

  Ned Kelly (2003 film)

  Notting Hill (film)

  O Brother, Where Art Thou?

  Panther (film)

  Paperhouse (film)

  Paul (film)

  Plunkett & Macleane

  Posse (1993 film)

  Pride & Prejudice (2005 film)

  The Return of the Borrowers

  Robin Hood (1991 film)

  Romeo Is Bleeding

  Rubin and Ed

  Sammy and Rosie Get Laid

  A Serious Man

  The Shape of Things

  Shaun of the Dead

  Sixty Six (film)

  Smokin' Aces

  Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball

  The Soloist

  State of Play (film)

  The Tall Guy

  Thirteen (film)

  Thunderbirds (film)

  United 93 (film)

  Wild Child (2008 film)

  Wimbledon (film)

  Wish You Were Here (1987 film)

  A World Apart (film)

  The Young Americans (film)