1. WORKING TITLES

2. THE COMPANY
WorkingTitles is a British film production company based in London and it is owned by
Universal Studios.
The company was founded byTim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983.
In 1992 PolyGram became the company’s corporate backer. Sarah Radclyffe left Working
Title and Eric Fellner a fellow independent film producer joined the company.
The company produced a variety of films for PolyGrams London based production company
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
In the year 1999, Polygram was sold to Seagram and merged with MCA Music
Entertainment which formed Universal Music group. Polygram Films was sold and folded
into Universal Studios in 1999 too.
In 1999 Bevan and Fellner launched a subsidiary company calledWorkingTitle 2
productions. It was an independent film production run by NatashaWharton. It has
produced films that include Billy Elliot, Shaun of the Dead andThe Calcium Kid.

3. PRODUCTION

4. ACTORS AND ACTRESSES
WorkingTitle films have produced a range of talent from actors and actresses. Hugh Grant, Bill
Nighy, Rowan Atkinson, Martin Freeman, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley,Colin Firth, Simon Pegg and
Nick Frost.
These actors/actresses appear in many working title films, this Is because they are British and portray
a good typical British film.
FACT! When the casting for Bridget Jones was taking place there was an outrage that an American
actress was given the lead role in what woman saw as proper British Film.

5. RICHARD CURTIS
RichardCurtis is a screenwriter, music producer, actor and film
director for British Films. He is best known for writing ‘Four
Weddings and a Funeral’, ‘Notting Hill, LoveActually and shows
such as ‘TheVicar of Dibley’ ‘Mr Bean’ and ‘Blackadder’.
One of his great successes was transferring Bridget Jones book
into a film which was very successful and developed into two
films.
His film career:
He achieved his breakthrough success with the romantic comedy
film FourWeddings and a Funeral. He made the actor Hugh
Grant a huge star through this film.The film was nominated for
best picture but lost to Forest Gump.
In May 2007 he received a BAFTA in recognition for his successful
career in film and television and also his charity efforts.

6. MONEY
WorkingTitle
are allowed to
produce any
film with a
budget up to
$35.This
minimises
their risk of
failure.

7. FUNDING
A lot ofWorkingTitle films are very
British in terms of their actors and
actresses and directors but they
are mostly funded and produced
by American companies.This is due
to the combining of Universal
Pictures and the company.
An example is Hot Fuzz as they are
produced by anAmerican team
(Universal Pictures).

8. GENRES
Their main genres are:
- Action
- Comedy
- Rom- com
- Adventure
- Period-drama

9. FILMS
Some examples of leading WorkingTitle
films:
- Johnny English
- Hot Fuzz
- The BoatThat Rocked
- About a Boy
- Love Actually
- Bridget Jones Diary
- Shaun of the Dead
- FourWeddings and a Funeral

10. DISTRIBUTION

11. The company works by itself with sections in the UK and in the US
and they have developed their own brand but they are funded and
supported by Universal.The company has profited over 6 Billion
since the co-operation with Universal in 1992, they have received 10
academy awards, 35 BAFTAs.
Their budget is supplied by their parenting company Universal
Studios. Universal are owned by NBC Universal which also own
many companies in the media area and this means their films are
easily marketable. Also being linked to this company means global
distribution is of ease for the company, also the international
market is available because of the large US business and the
companies work in synergy.

12. MARKETING

13. AUDIENCES (OWNERSHIP AND FINANCE)
Ownership- Comcast Corporation
Parent- Universal Studios (NBC UNIVERSAL)
Divisions-WT2 Productions andWorkingTitleTelevision
Universal pictures is owned by Comcast which is an American entertainment and
communications product.These connections assistWorkingTitle films to approach
a bigger market, allowing them to get themselves involved with the company's
films.This is a success because the companies provide them funding sources which
they can then use for advertising, this allows them to reach a wider market which
would make their films more successful.
WorkingTitle are allowed to produce any film with a budget up to £35 million this
allows them to make the films which they want.

14. MARKETING
WorkingTitle only produce films which are ‘very British’.This is a marketing technique for
them because it will appeal to the American audience. It is important that the films will sell
inAmerica because they are a huge consumer in the film industry and they create a big
percentage of the box office ratings.
There are different marketing techniques to market the film depending on what genre and
plot the film is. If a film was targeted towards teenagers then a trailer would be posted
across social networking sites such as twitter and Facebook.This is because millions of
teenagers use this site everyday so just by posting a trailer then the film would be known
quickly.
They would also air the trailers on theTV at an appropriate time depending on its target
audience. For example Nanny Mc Phee and the Big Bang would be aired daytime because
they want to attract a younger audience.Whereas, if the genre of the film was comedy then
this would be shown in the adverts of a comedy programme such as Celebrity Juice.
Furthermore, it also depends on the certificate rating of the film because 15 and 18 rated
films would be shown in the evening as the trailers and film would not be appropriate the
people under this age.

15. AUDIENCES
WorkingTitle highlights plenty of iconic British locations which are portrayed in
their films such as Buckingham Palace and Houses of Parliament so this would
attract an audience of both the British and American.
WorkingTitles will aim to make the film for its audience depending on the seasons
throughout the year. For example Love Actually (2003) a Christmas based film was
released around December.
Films will not be released during busy active seasons throughout the year such as
The Olympics because the audience figures at cinemas would be low so there would
be a decrease in income which would therefore make the film less successful.

16. I GIVE IT AYEAR
Plot:
A newly wed couple are happy
despite their differences. But
their family and friends are not
convinced that their marriage will
last.With their first anniversary
approaching and attractive
alternatives in the mix, can they
last?
The film was based and filmed in
London
Genre- British comedy
Released- 8th February 2013
Written and Directed by – Dan Mazer
Cast:
Rose Bryne, Rafe, Spall, Anna Faris and Simon Baker
Studio:
WorkingTitle films
Canal+
Cine+
TF1 Films
Distributed by:
Studio canal
Magnolia pictures

17. The director Dan Mazer
I give it a year was his
directorial debut. He
was previously been
best known for co-
writing the Sacha Baron
Cohen films such as
Borat and Bruno.
Box office sales: $28,232,514
Opening weekend box office:
$5,436 (USA) (11th August 2013) (2
screens)
HUF $14,251,345 (Hungary) (3rd
March 2013)

18. LOVE ACTUALLY
Director- Richard Curtis
The production of the film was mostly filmed in London at
popular sites such asTrafalgar Square, the central court of
Somerset House in the Strand, Grosvenor Chapel on South
Audley Street (Hyde Park) and many more.
The marketing of the film was used by posters, trailers and
adverts.The film was marketed well through the process of
TV and poster advertising, cinema trailers.
One of the main reasons as why the film was successful was
because of the variety of well known actors which were
mostly British so would therefore grab the British audiences
attention.These actors were Hugh Grant (popular with
WorkingTitle films), Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Kiera
Knightly, EmmaThompson, Rowan Atkinson and Bill Nighy.

19. Distribution:
Love Actually was first released in cinema in November 2003.
The sound track was also released in November 2003.
The film was released on DVD in March 2004.
InAmerica the film was not released until November 2009.
Exhibition:
The film had its first world premiere on September 6th 2003 in
Toronto Canada. Then followed by premieres in New
York, Brussels, Madrid, Rome and Munich. Finally the premiere
took place in the UK on the 16TH November 2003 in London.The
films last premiere took place in Paris.
The film received a majority of positive reviews in Britain and the
reviews in America were mixed, with the film receiving an
average rating of 55 out of 100.
Overall the film had a worldwide total of $247, 472,278.
Review
About.com
Audiences can start celebrating a little early as the
holiday-themed romantic comedy “Love Actually”
weaves its spell over moviegoers.Writer/director Richard
Curtis’ romantic comedy can honestly, truthfully, and
without hesitation be labelled ‘the romantic comedy of
the year.’ In a year practically devoid of romantic
comedies, that’s not exactly a tough title to claim.
However, “Love Actually” is utterly
charming, irresistible, and all those other accolades
usually launched at a cute, fluffy, romantic comedy, so it
deserves the label - and not just by default.

20. EXHIBITION

21. AfterWorkingTitle make their films as soon as it is ready for
release , Universal will release it to every single institution to
achieve the most profitable marketing, including social media
sites such asTwitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. Also movie
streaming websites such as Love Film and Netflix.Through the
cinema, DVD and Blue- Ray, ITunes store and television. All of this
can be done by Universal over night.

22. SUCCESSES AND FAILURES
Box Office successes:
- Wild Child
- Hot Fuzz
- Love Actually
- Ali G in Da House
- Bridget Jones- Edge of
reason
- Nanny McPhee
- Thunderbirds
The company’s success has lead to WorkingTitle being
able to invest more money into British film
production, at both high and low budget level with the
creation ofWT2.This has lead to young British talent
such as Lee Hall (writer of Billy Elliot) being able to get
more of their projects off the ground. However, the
success of theWorkingTitle formula has distorted the
amount of revenue coming into the British film industry
at large. Far too much money is making its way to
WorkingTitle, and many other British production
companies are struggling to survive as a result.

23. FUTURE FILMS
Trash 2014
Trash is an upcoming British adventure drama thriller film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Richard
Curtis,based on a 2010 novel of same name by Andy Mulligan.The film stars Rooney Mara, Martin Sheen,Wagner
Moura and Selton Mello.
Everest 2015
Everest is an upcomingAmerican 3D adventure thriller film directed by Baltasar Kormákur and written by Justin
Isbell and William Nicholson.The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke, John Hawkes and Sam
Worthington.
The film is set for a September 18, 2015 release date. It is based on the real events of 1996 Mount Everest disaster, in
which several climbers died and survived.There were two expedition groups leading by Scott Fischer (played by Jake
Gyllenhaal) and Rob Hall (played by Jason Clarke) each, who tried to climb the mountain.