:Working Title Films

Bevan and Radclyffe were partners in pop music promotional company, Aldabra, and set up Working Title Films in London in 1983 where they were commissioned by newly created UK broadcaster, Channel 4, to make a television film, My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), directed by Stephen Frears. My Beautiful Launderette was a success at the Edinburgh Film Festival and received a theatrical release, where it was successful internationally. Accountant Graham Bradstreet joined as a third partner in 1986.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=14 December 1998|page=106|title=WT milestones}}

A World Apart was entered in competition at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury. The Tall Guy (1988) saw the feature film debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis and director Mel Smith.

In 1988, Michael Kuhn of PolyGram started to work with the company and in 1989 PolyGram acquired 49% of the company and they jointly launched Manifesto Film Sales.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=14 December 1998|page=99|title=The billion-dollar indie|last=Dawtrey|first=Adam}} Manifesto's first third-party pick up for distribution was the Coen brothers' Barton Fink (1991).{{AFI film|58764|Barton Fink}} Bradstreet left the company in 1990 and Radclyffe a year later, with Eric Fellner, a fellow independent film producer, joining the company in 1991.{{cite news|title=Interview: Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, co-chairmen Working Title Films|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/apr/16/business.hayfilmfestival2005|location=London|author=Higgins, Charlotte|date=16 April 2005|access-date=31 July 2018}} The same year, Kuhn set up PolyGram Filmed Entertainment which acquired 100% of Working Title in 1992.

Paul Webster set up an office in Los Angeles in 1991 and producer Liza Chasin was appointed as president of production.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=14 December 1998|page=106|title='Weddings' opened door to H'wd|last=Carver|first=Benedict}} Webster produced the company's first American films, Rubin & Ed and Drop Dead Fred. Working Title also made Tim Robbins' directorial debut, Bob Roberts (1992).

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.{{Cite web |date=1992-10-14 |title=WORKING TITLE FILMS LIMITED overview |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02755827 |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=Companies House |language=en}}

Gramercy Pictures began distributing the company's films in the United States, starting with Posse (1993). In 1994, the company's Four Weddings and a Funeral, written by Curtis, became the highest-grossing British film of all time with a gross of $245 million. They also made the Coen brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). In 1996, Robbins' Dead Man Walking was the company's first film to win an Academy Award, with Susan Sarandon winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. The Coen brothers' Fargo (1996) won two Academy Awards the following year. The company had another major success with Bean (1997) directed by Smith and co-written by Curtis, grossing $251 million.

In 1998, PolyGram was sold to the Seagram company and merged with MCA Music Entertainment, to form Universal Music Group. PolyGram Films was folded into Universal Pictures. In 1999, Seagram sold the bulk of its library of PolyGram films released up until 31 March 1996 to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-oct-23-fi-35357-story.html|title=MGM Agrees to Acquire PolyGram Movie Library|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1998-10-23|access-date=2025-03-12|first=Claudia|last=Eller}} 1999 also saw the company's highest-grossing film to date with Notting Hill, again written by Curtis, with a gross of $364 million.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Around 2003, New Zealand-born producer Tim White was appointed head of the Australian branch of Working Title Films, and during this time executive produced Gregor Jordan's Ned Kelly.{{cite web | title=Tim White | website=Big Screen Symposium | date=17 October 2018 | url=https://bigscreensymposium.com/teams/tim-white/ | access-date=14 January 2025}}{{cite web | title=Tim White |first=Costa |last=Botes| website=NZ On Screen | url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/tim-white/biography | access-date=14 January 2025}}

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 company NBCUniversal.{{Cite web|title=Working Title – Skillset|work=The Guardian|url=http://www.skillset.org/film/stories/production/article_3457_1.asp}} Working Title company renewed its first look deal with Universal Pictures in 2020.{{Cite web|last=Kay|date=2020-12-11|first=Jeremy|title=Universal, Working Title renew first-look deal through 2025|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/universal-working-title-renew-first-look-deal-through-2025/5155651.article|access-date=2020-12-13|website=Screen|language=en}}

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.

Working Title has been active in television production since the beginning of the 1990s.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/company/co0026907/?ref_=fn_al_co_2|title=Working Title Television [gb]|work=IMDb|access-date=31 July 2018}} In February 2010, Working Title officially launched its television division as a joint venture with parent company NBCUniversal, itself owned by Comcast.{{cite news|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a203728/working-title-launches-tv-division/|title=Working Title launches TV division|work=Digital Spy|author=Laughlin, Andrew|date=17 February 2010|access-date=31 July 2018}} Since then, they have produced content for both British and American television.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2011/11/working-title-television-sells-6-projects-195230/|title=Working Title Television Sells 6 Projects|author=Andreeva, Nellie|work=Deadline Hollywood|date=16 November 2011|access-date=31 July 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/working-title-television-produces-the-secrets-for-bbc-1201067897/|title=Working Title Television Produces 'The Secrets' for BBC|author=Leo Barraclough|work=Variety|date=23 January 2014}} Notable productions and co productions developed by Working Title Television (WTTV){{cite web|access-date=31 July 2018|url=https://www.workingtitlefilms.com/tv/about|title=About WTTV|work=workingtitlefilms.com}} include NBC's About a Boy, and Showtime's The Tudors.

WTTV has offices in London and Los Angeles.{{cite news|access-date=31 July 2018|date=17 October 2014|url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/bbc-america-london-spy-miniseries-ben-whishaw-jim-broadbent-1201332632/|title=BBC America Co-Producing 'London Spy' Miniseries with Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent|author=Prudom, Laura|work=Variety}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/exec/liza-chasin/|title=Liza Chasin|work=Variety|date=22 September 2013|access-date=31 July 2018}}

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.Davidson, Andrew, Under the Hammer: The ITV Franchise Battle, William Heinemann Ltd., p. 297.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book | last=Townsend | first=Nathan | title=Working Title Films: A Creative and Commercial History | publisher=Edinburgh University Press | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-4744-5193-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_I-zQEACAAJ }}
• [https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/jbctv.2022.0624 Nathan Townsend, Working Title Films: A Creative and Commercial History], an overview by Justin Smith on Edinburgh University Press website
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2821801.stm "Producers give backbone to industry"] BBC News, 16 February 2004.
• Plunkett, John [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/feb/16/working-title-films "Shaun of the Dead production company Working Title to launch TV division"], The Guardian, 17 February 2010.

• {{Official website}}

{{NBCUniversal}}

{{Cinema of the United Kingdom}}

{{BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award}}

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Category:Film production companies of the United Kingdom

Category:Film production companies of the United States

Category:Television production companies of the United Kingdom

Category:Television production companies of the United States

Category:Mass media companies established in 1983

Category:British companies established in 1983

Category:Universal Pictures subsidiaries

Category:British subsidiaries of foreign companies

Category:Mass media companies based in London

Category:BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award

Category:1999 mergers and acquisitions