Case Study

Working Title FilmsWorking Title Films

Section B

• Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate understanding of contemporary institutional processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange/exhibition at a local, national or international level as well as British audiences’ reception and consumption.

• There should also be some emphasis on the students’ own experiences of being audiences of a particular medium.

Film – Case Study Requirements

• A study of a specific studio or production company within a contemporary film industry that targets a British audience (eg Hollywood, Bollywood, UK film) including its patterns of production, distribution, exhibition and consumption by audiences.

• This should be accompanied by study of contemporary film distribution practices (digital cinemas, DVD, HD-DVD, downloads, etc) and their impact upon production, marketing and consumption.

Independent?

• WTF (Working Title Films) has the appearance of being independent but is owned by Universal Pictures – they are the distributor!

• WT2 is their smaller subsidiary company and they make small budget films.

In 1999 Working Title signed a

reported $600m deal with Universal.

• Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan co-owners of WTF (1984), a very small company in industry terms, 42 staff!

Atonement• Sole production credits are held by WTF,

however it was distributed by 8 companies!

• The film was shot in England, adopted from a British novel, with a British screenplay and had mainly a British cast – however WTF is owned by Universal is

it a British film?

Brit or not Brit?

• The idea that Working Title are a British company in some ways belies the financial reality - that of a company bankrolled by a Hollywood studio (Universal) and a European media conglomerate (Canal Plus), working in the heart of LA (they have a full time office on Wilshire Boulevard).

• But it is this willingness to deal with Hollywood on its own terms that has led to 'WT's' unique position in Hollywood - a British-run company with the power to green-light any film it chooses.

Your Task

• You need to begin your case study for the exam

• You have to complete the research and you are responsible for gathering info!

• You need to look at interviews, facts and figures, the website, articles etc

• WORKING TITLE FILMS – go get it!

In addition, candidates should be familiar with:

• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;

• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;

• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;

• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;

• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;

• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;

• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.