Bevan and Radclyffe were partners in pop music promotional company, Aldabra, and set up Working Title Films in
London in 1983 where they were commissioned by newly created UK broadcaster,
Channel 4, to make a television film,
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), directed by
Stephen Frears.
My Beautiful Laundrette was a success at the
Edinburgh Film Festival and received a theatrical release, where it was successful internationally. Accountant Graham Bradstreet joined as a third partner in 1986.
A World Apart was entered in competition at the
1988 Cannes Film Festival and won the
Special Grand Prize of the Jury.
The Tall Guy (1988) saw the feature film debut of screenwriter
Richard Curtis and director
Mel Smith. Manifesto's first third-party pick up for distribution was the
Coen brothers'
Barton Fink (1991). Bradstreet left the company in 1990 and Radclyffe a year later, with
Eric Fellner, a fellow
independent film producer, joining the company in 1991. Webster produced the company's first American films,
Rubin & Ed and
Drop Dead Fred. Working Title also made
Tim Robbins' directorial debut,
Bob Roberts (1992).
Gramercy Pictures began distributing the company's films in the United States, starting with
Posse (1993). In 1994, the company's
Four Weddings and a Funeral, written by Curtis, became the
highest-grossing British film of all time with a gross of $245 million. 1999 also saw the company's highest-grossing film to date with
Notting Hill, again written by Curtis, with a gross of $364 million. Around 2003, New Zealand-born producer
Tim White was appointed head of the Australian branch of Working Title Films, and during this time executive produced
Gregor Jordan's
Ned Kelly. Although contractually allowed to produce any film with a budget of up to $35 million, on a practical basis, Bevan and Fellner consult with studio executives at Working Title's parent company
NBCUniversal. Working Title company renewed its first look deal with Universal Pictures in 2020.
WT2 Productions In 1999, Bevan and Fellner launched a subsidiary company named Working Title 2 Productions, commonly known as WT2. The company is an independent film production arm run by
Natascha Wharton, and has produced films that include
Billy Elliot,
Shaun of the Dead and
The Calcium Kid. ==Television division==