Overview

Working Title Films is arguably the most important production company in the history of British cinema. This wide-ranging book charts the creative and commercial history of Working Title, from its origins as an independent in the 1980s, to its integration into PolyGram Filmed Entertainment in the 1990s, and to its current status as a subsidiary of Universal since the 2000s. In doing so, the relationship between the film industries and cultures of Britain and Hollywood is examined through a consideration of the industrial structures, processes and practices which have defined the operation of the company. Moreover, it considers the ways in which these industrial transitions have produced distinct versions of Britain and Britishness onscreen ranging from My Beautiful Laundrette and Wish You Were Here to Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, and from Johnny English and Nanny McPhee to The Theory of Everything and Yesterday. Drawing on over 30 interviews with key personnel from Working Title, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal, the author examines not only how this remarkable company has evolved but also why it has evolved in the way that it has by situating its history within the ever-changing landscapes of the British and Hollywood film industries.

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9781474451949

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"""Essential reading for anyone engaged in the serious study of contemporary British cinema, Nathan Townsend's book provides a long overdue full critical analysis of Working Title's operations and outputs since its inception four decades ago. It traces the company's complex history and surveys the full range of its transnational endeavours, from Oscar-winning highs to critic infuriating lows, and is nourished throughout by Townsend's conceptual sophistication and granular attention to detail."" -Melanie Williams, University of East Anglia"

Author Information

Nathan Townsend is Lecturer in Creative Industries in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies at the University of York

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