PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films Part II: The Rise and Fall of a Film Studio

TY - JOUR

T1 - PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films Part II

T2 - The Rise and Fall of a Film Studio

AU - Townsend, Nathaniel Philip

N1 - ©2020, IAMHIST & Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2020/4/22

Y1 - 2020/4/22

N2 - In a recent article in this journal, I examined the early development and launch of a film studio, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE), and the integration of an independent production company, Working Title Films, into this new venture between 1988 and 1993. This article resumes that narrative by considering the evolving parent company-subsidiary dynamic at play between PFE and Working Title between 1993 and 1998. In doing so, four overlapping objectives are pursued. Firstly, I examine the structures and processes which linked PFE to Working Title by conceptualising the relationship between the two in terms of creative and commercial gatekeeping with gates at the points of development, green-lighting and distribution. Secondly, I consider the release of Working Title’s first worldwide hit, Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and assess its impact upon both the production company and the studio. Thereafter, PFE’s subsequent development - the expansion of its distribution and marketing network, its acquisition of various film libraries, the proliferation of its production deals – is charted, as well as its premature demise and the fate of its assets, including Working Title. Finally, I position this history within the wider context of the relationship between the film industries and cultures of Britain and Hollywood by considering PFE’s unique achievements and legacy.

AB - In a recent article in this journal, I examined the early development and launch of a film studio, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE), and the integration of an independent production company, Working Title Films, into this new venture between 1988 and 1993. This article resumes that narrative by considering the evolving parent company-subsidiary dynamic at play between PFE and Working Title between 1993 and 1998. In doing so, four overlapping objectives are pursued. Firstly, I examine the structures and processes which linked PFE to Working Title by conceptualising the relationship between the two in terms of creative and commercial gatekeeping with gates at the points of development, green-lighting and distribution. Secondly, I consider the release of Working Title’s first worldwide hit, Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and assess its impact upon both the production company and the studio. Thereafter, PFE’s subsequent development - the expansion of its distribution and marketing network, its acquisition of various film libraries, the proliferation of its production deals – is charted, as well as its premature demise and the fate of its assets, including Working Title. Finally, I position this history within the wider context of the relationship between the film industries and cultures of Britain and Hollywood by considering PFE’s unique achievements and legacy.

U2 - 10.1080/01439685.2020.1733204

DO - 10.1080/01439685.2020.1733204

M3 - Article

SN - 0143-9685

VL - 40

SP - 772

EP - 803

JO - Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

JF - Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

IS - 4

ER -