RESEARCH INTO FILM INSTITUTIONS.

                                                  THE WORKING TITLE

The working title do not make blockbuster films but instead make small individual films.

It was founded in 1984 by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. This company is now the most successful British film production company. The first working title film they had started to film was “The Man Who Shot Christmas. (In the year 1984) This led to their first film for Channel Four and the first of many landmark Working Title Films. - “My Beautiful Laundrette”. This film had made 400,000 USD and had taken over 2.5 million USD. The Working Title want to make European films for a worldwide audience. They want to inspire them with the international ideas and influences and they could not undergo their journey, without the backing of a major Hollywood studio. The 2004 Universal became part of the National Broadcasting Company, which enables greater access to finance. The increase in distribution leads to diversifying slate, which means that after the release of small films, a larger film is then released straight after, in order to provide support to the smaller films. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Elizabeth (2011) are smaller films in comparison to franchiseable films such as Bridget Jones.

 35 million USD is the amount of money the Working Title can spend on a film before consulting with universal. The Working Title have a lot of freedom to make creative decisions but it is owned by a conglomerate. 13 million GBP was the budget for Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and this particular films had taken in 9.8 GBP from the UK Box Office takings. However, the protection of Universal means that the Working Title was able to survive this low standard and disappointing performance. The film, Bean (In the year 1996) had a budget of 16.2 million GBP and had bagged / earned 17.9 million GBP in the UK Box Office. However, Bridget Jones (In the year of 2000) had taken 42 million GBP from the UK Box Office. This was the highest earning within the UK Box Office for the most key Working Title films. Bridget Jones had made a profit of 28 million GBP.

The Working Title produce around 6 or 7 films per year, alongside only 1 number of “risk free films”.  They invest in 2 mainstream films per year and the good thing about them is that they will invest in projects that they feel heavily passionate about, regardless of if they include risks. To this day, the Working Title has made 95 films and have cashed in 4.5 billion USD by the making of their films. Elizabeth, Dead Man Walking, Johnny English and the Bean, are just a few of the main noticeable films the Working Title have produced.

Eric Fellner has stated that the Working Title focuses on character and narrative, rather than special effects and actions. They mainly create films of cross-genres. Eric Fellner feels that the simple essence of a successful film is a really good screenplay and sense of humanity; that the most important thing is for the audience to identify and empathise with characters. Working Title have aimed to create an industry that is exportable and global. Fellner states that there is an active aggressive industry in Hollywood, that they are not able to compete with. However, his aim to put the companies focus on making good films they truly believe in, then exporting them. He also believes that the notion of the British Film Industry should also focus on being purely British, with no interference. He would prefer to work with the home grown material and work with others, in order to distribute their product in the market. Fellner says that the British film industry is “thriving” and also have the ability to ride out recessions. However, Fellner also pays a huge interest in in characters being fun, engaging and interesting. He wants the audience to feel a connection with the characters, that they would want to spend time with them, regardless of if they are stereotypical or simplistic. The Working Title focuses on on characters etc instead of packaging films + characters for the American audience.

In order to grab the audience’s attention, the Working Title also focuses on locations, narrative, themes and genre.

Their films have grossed more than 1.2 million GBP since 1984.

The Working Title Movie Template consists of British Film + American star = $$$$$$

This appeals to international market and is a great success for the British Film Industry. Also, The Working Title want to make European films for a worldwide audience. In the year 1998, Polygram bought by Universal (a Hollywood Studio itself) is owned by Seagram. The financial stability offered by the support from a major studio allowed The Working Title to move rapidly on the international stage. The Working Title has a really small structure and employs just 42 full time staff, which is split between the main Working Title production arm. The most important and crucial par of the business is developing key scripts. The Working Title has a strong development team and invests heavily in making sure that they get it right. No errors are to be seen. Approximately, 40 to 50 projects are in development and every script costs around 250,000 USD to 500,000 USD. The Working Title aim to make around 5 to 10 films a year and have an average budget size ranging from 30 to 40 million USD. Universal Pictures and The Working Title Films have extended their production agreement for an extra five years. Bridget Jone’s Baby is the first uk film industry to make 1 Billion GBP return in the UK.

The casting of The Working Title is quite simple. It gains audience by using American film stars.

Universal Studios helps distribute their films across many different international platforms. Bridget Jones Baby had been distributed to Canada, France, United Kingdom and also North America. Bridget Jones baby had made 212 USD through the entire box office worldwode. This includes 60 million GBP in the United Kingdom, and also 24.1 million USD in Canad and the United States of America.
The Working Title create films with cross - genres, which means that they have a wider audience. This would be a mix between comedy and romance.

Hilary Bevan is the co producer, and the importance of the script is VERY important.
The script covers the costs in the budget, the major and minor roles for the cast, the location and also what type of set needs to be built.

BRIDGET JONES BABY.

This is the first British film to make 1 billion GBP / USD at the UK box office.
It's very first trailer had appeared on the Ellen show and had gained 3.9million views per episode.
Their website includes trailers, a synopsis of the film, working with high standard brands such as muller, the yoghurt company and they also have 3 main media platforms for the audience to interact with. These are Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Also, Muller is part of their synergistic campaign. The yoghurt company can help promote their film, theorefore gaining more viewers and more money. The consumers could win a Luxurious London Break by purchasing the yoghurts which have the on pack promotions. However, Jurassic Park had worked with higher brands such as Mercedes and Lego. This was on an international scale.

THE WAYS THE WORKING TITLE USE THEIR MARKETING TECHNIQUES.

They focus on their target audience, and also release teaser trailers in many cinemas. This would gather a wider audience. They have a Unique Selling Point, whereby they are prepared ahead of the game, and very early. Awareness of the film has to be built up early, in order for the maximum views and interests the film receives. 

They use Radio and TV to advertise their products via interviews, gossips, live calls and also crew actions. Small clips would also be used just for the build up of excitement.

Posters are also used so that their film can be advertised in many locations, therefore bringing in a wider audience. Whilst cars are at the traffic light, they could take a look at whats on offer, and if it appeals to them, they could spread the message across.

CONVERGENCE.

This covers a wide range, whereby there are many platforms the audience are able to view the product. Jurassic World offers the film to be watched on Netflix, stream accounts, mobile phones and also the trailer ready for download on their own app. The main idea is that technologies are working together whereby iTunes, Google Play, MP3 files on mobile phones are all an available opetion to have a relation with the film.

EXTREME DIGITAL CHANGES TO CINEMA.

Building expensive sets are an old technique now. The green screen is the future for all film makers, because your imagination could be unleashed easily. The green screen ensures that anything can be put on the screen, making it look as realistic as ever. Also, VERY expensive cameras enable fluent, clean and crisp footage, allowing the entire film to run smoothly. Also, transitioning between different types of cinemas has lowered the cost of the distribution of the film. A range of 2000 GBP and 3000 GBP cane be saved per motion picture.

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION.

The crackdown on security and overall controls are now enhanced. The company are able to take charge of this. They make the film available in numerous ways, allowing it to be showed across many platforms. Piracy is one of teh main reasons why a huge film would lose over 400 million a year. To put an end to piracy, more platforms have opened, allowing the decrease of cheap low quality products being sold. A wider oficial range would mean that piracy would largely decrease and would also discourage it. In a 2D cinema, it would be easier to film the entire movie as the pixels are not doubled up. However, in 3D cinemas, it would be a lot harder to record full movies as the pixels ARE doubled up and also because of the digitalisation technique where the films images could be manipulated and seen differently using any camera.

THE INBETWEENERS.

This film had a budget of 3.5 million GBP, and had also earned over 2.5 million GBP in 409 cinemas on the first day it had been released. It had earnt a total amount of 13.22 million GBP and was also distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors.
It was released on the normal CD and also on Blu-Ray. It included extra bonus footage for the audience and this includes footage that was NOT shown in cinema. This enables the audience to learn and enjoy more of the product. In the first day of the fims release, they had sold around 575,000 copies of the film.

The marketing aspect of the E4 Sitcom film was amazing. Merchandise such as shirts and mugs were being sold. The shirts could be worn outside, and people who go to work could take their own cup, advertising the movie at the same time. There were many other merchandising products as well. (synergy)

Trailers, Soundtracks and renting were all available online. As usual, social media platforms play a huge part in the films progress as well. Facebook was used to upload pages which were only related to the film. This was really accessible people who have or dont have Facebook can view the page and obtain all the key information they need. This is cross media and this would definitely increase the publicity of the film as hundreds of thousands and millions of users are online everyday.

HONEYTRAP.

This film is a low budget film and is based around a young individual, comitting one of the most heinous crimes... MURDER!
The films budget was under 1 million GBP, and has used events such as crowdfunding, so that peopel could pay forward a few punds to help the film progress.
A the end of the day, the work, effort and commitment is all done for the audience.

The marketing strategies were social media such as Twitter and Facebook for major interaction, local events to raise money, and also the GRM Daily black society music network. Due to the film being filmed in Brixton, they want to attract a diverse audience, but also individuals who could relate to the topic and message.

After all of this, the film was ready to be distributed to various independant distributors, so that
there can be a rise in views and profits.

These are the BIG SIX MAJOR STUDIOS and the companies they own!

LIONSGATE, HAXAN FILMS, BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS, NEW LINE CINEMA & THE INDEPENDANT are all smaller but successful companies.

These, plus the BFI FILM FESTIVAL LONDON & THE RAINDANCE FESTIVAL would be more suitable for us aspiring film makers.