Working Title Trip!

On the 5th of April we had the privillege of visiting the Working Titles studios. We have the chance to meet Tim Bevan (co-chair of Working Title Films), Debra Hayward (Executive Producer), Sarah Jane Wright (Production Executive), Harriet Spencer (Assistant to Debra Hayward) and Dan Manson (Writer of films such as Borat and Bruno). Each person presented us with a talk which they believe would enhance our knowledge in the film industry and help us with our A level exam.


Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner the owners of Working Title are said to be "two of the most important figures in the British movie industry". It said by an arcticle produced by the BBC entertainment sections that, "Their films have grossed more than $1.8 billion (£1.12 billion) in the last 12 years, and that is a conservative estimate" posted on the16th February 2004.Tim Bevan explain when speaking to us how Working Title Films are funded by Universal in the producing films and the paying of the staff at Working Title. This is highlighted how they are linked to Hollywood  in the article above it states how they have always had strong links with Hollywood. This quote shows how they are valued and have links with Universal, "I think anyone in Hollywood would want to do business with these guys," said the former Universal Studios boss Edgar Bronfman Jr, now a chief executive with USA Interactive".

Another factor which was asked when talking to Tim Bevan was piracy and how this affects the film industry? He stated how he believes that the cinema will appeal still to the audience due to the collective enjoyment the cinema experience brings. He also said how piracy generally affects dvd sales rather than box office sales. He said how he believed that online downloading was the way forward and that he thought people would be happy to pay some money towards a film due to the costing to produce it. Shooting can cost from $100'000 to 300'000 per day and therefore, as said by Sarah Jane Wright they are always working against time. Looking at Anotment the film we watched before visiting she stated how it was filmed in 62 days in numberous of locations all in the UK. She said how there was usaully 130 people on a film set. The total cost of the film was 17 million this is consider a reasonly cheap to produce in the film industry. She also highlighted how in the last 2-3 years film drama box office sales have dropped this has lead to Unviersal studios not tending to invest into drama films such as Anotoment.

The 'cut' in the Uk film council was another factor questioned and the impact it would have on working titles. Sarah Jane Wright stated how due to the film council funding small independate companies its has little impact on working titles. However the message the goverment are sending due to this is how they are not reconisging the importance of the film industry.