Film4 Productions

• Film4 Is a British based film company owned by Channel 4.
• The controller of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama is Tessa Ross. 
• Established 1998 along with the Film4 Television Channel.
• One of the biggest film institutes in Britain, primarily funded by Channel 4 and have recently under gone a 50% budget raise from eight to ten million a year to £15million. 
• They are known for producing 'British' films that are gritty and centre around relationships, concentrating on 'social realism' . They quote what they do as 'We develop and co-finance smart and distinctive feature films.’
•  Channel 4's philosophy has always been to experiment and innovate and cater for audiences not addressed by other channels. Film4 follows this philosophy by looking for distinctive films that will compete in the difficult cinema market. They often use first time feature screenwriters or directors and aim  to produce around twenty films a year 
• Film4 films are often less available to the 'multiplex' audience as they aim more for their niche target audience, and crediting at film festivals. 
• A particular big hit for Film4 was Slumdog Millionaire, which was originally planned to be released straight onto DVD, broke box office records and has gone on to gross around $243million worldwide, along with winning seven BAFTA's and eight Academy Awards. 
• Originally a subscription-only service, the film4 channel was relaunched in 2002 to become the only subscription free film channel on terrestrial television; increasing its audience from 300,000 to 18million. 
• The channel tends to show films around two years after the theatrical release, with films involved with film4 throughout production being shown on either channel 4 or film4 itself first before other channels (e.g- Slumdog Millionaire).
• Similarly to Working Title, you can view video blogs and see behind the scenes of film4 films in production on the website at: http://www.film4.com/features/film4-in-production
• Film4 Productions also finance many films, often partnering with other British companies such as Warp films and working title, or the French company Studio Canal, as well as playing a part with the conglomerate companies in Hollywood. 
•  A new venture recently launched by Film4 along with Sony and Disney is a new online video on demand service for film4. It will supply a selection of films to rent online, with many available the same day as DVD release from 50p to £3.99. There is already around 500 films available: http://film4od.film4.com/ 

Notable Films:

Slumdog Millionaire

The Lovely Bones

Wild Child

Four Lions 

Nowhere Boy

This is England

Film4 Productions Film - Film Fact Sheet - This is England:

Working Title Productions

• Working Title is a British film company based in London.
• Co-Chairpersons: Tim Bevan, Erin Fellner
• Established: 1984
• They only employ 42 full time staff, split between Working Title and its subsidiary company.
• Subsidiary company - Working Title 2, established in 1999 and run by Natasha Wharton. WT2 is a smaller low budget film brand that appeals to a more niche audience. They have more independence as they aren't contracted by Universal. 
• Taken over by Polygram in 1999, which is now Universal. They have a 67% stake in the company. Remaining shares are owned by company founders, BBC films and private investors. On the take over by Universal Bevan said 'we spent much less time on finding the money and much more on developing decent scripts' . 
• Working Title's Philosophy: 'to make films for a audience - by that I mean play in a multiplex. We totally believe this because we know it is the only hope we have of sustaining the UK film industry' 
• 85 of working Title's films have grossed over a $4 billion profit worldwide. 
• They pride themselves on producing a wide range of genres in their films, they have also recently branched out into theatre; producing Billy Elliot: The  Musical.
• They pride themselves on keeping good relations with the people they work with, often re-using  people. They are well known to work with Directors Richard Curtis and the Coen Brothers, and Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson and Romantic comedy film star Hugh Grant. 
• They have a good record for launching new talent, such as Director Shekkar Kapur.
• On average, they make around 4 films a year 
• Working Title often post live blogs on their website to keep fans up to date with the latest films in Production: http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/films

Notable Films:

Love, Actually

About a Boy

Wimbledon 

Bridget Jones' Diary

Pride and Prejudice 

Hot Fuzz 

A Working Title Film Fact Sheet - Atonement: