Working Title Films

Case study about two 'film companies' will allow you to compare a smaller British film company 'Working Title Films' with a huge international conglomerate 'Universal' to see how the relationship between the two has developed.

You can then use the knowledge and understanding gained to write a response to the 'audiences and institutions' section of the AS OCR exam paper.

Start with Working Title films and conduct wide research.

www.workingtitlefilms.com

Look at the range of films produced to see if there are any similarities.

Note the key facts

Working Title films were founded in 1983
Many of the directors and actors have gone on to become household names and major stars
A string of commercial hits following a trusted formula appealing to specific audiences
Bought in 1999 by Universal for $600 million

Actors
Hugh Grant
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Rowan Atkinson

Cate Blanchett

Gary Oldman

Colin Firth

Directors 

Stephen Daldry

Paul Greengrass

Richard Curtis

Edgar Wright

Coen Brothers

Types of film

Romantic Comedy 

Royal family

Period drama

British comedy

First successes were heralded as important culturally as the British film industry was ailing and independent British cinema was weak.  Also look at Channel4Films.

1983 - My Beautiful Launderette

This film was directed by Stephen Frears and starred a young Daniel Day Lewis. It represents themes of sexuality and racism in Thatcher's Britain that many young people could relate to providing a voice to those under-represented in mainstream cinema.

1986 - Sid and Nancy

Starring Gary Oldman as the punk Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols mythologised as an icon of 1970's Britain.

1987 - Wish you Were Here

Emily Lloyd is my favourite early Working Title film.  Highly recommended representing gender roles in 1950's Britain.

1994 - Four Weddings and a Funeral

This cost £6million to make and took nearly £2oo million at the box office. It was a global success and set the formula for the commercial success of Working Title films.

We will be analysing why and how this film succeeded in appealing to audiences

Richard Curtis is the man held up as the genius who created a string of successful comedies including;

Blackadder

Finely honed scripts allowed a generation of comedians to express their comic timig with relentless puns, wordplay, slapstick and situation comedy. Stephen Fry, Rowna Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Robbie Coltrane, Tony Robinson have all gone on to disparate, successful careers. The final series situated Blackadder in the trenches for a poignant farewell which is often cited as a landmark in British television.