Eric Fellner
About
Biography
Filmography
Notes
"It's both a curse and a blessing to be based in London. It's good that a lot of filmmakers are attracted to the allure of being able to come to us and we can finance their $40 million to $50 million movie and they don't have to work within the Hollywood studio system. On the other hand, it's a curse because if we're not physically in town in L.A., there's an eight-hour time difference. You miss people. Opportunities arise that disappear." --Eric Fellner in THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 16, 1997
"There are far more British directors and actors around than there are scriptwriters. That's the essential area of development for te British film industry right now. There's all this talk about shelves full of British films that can't get distribution, but I don't think there's a decent film out there that can't get a deal. Most of them just aren't very good." --Fellner, quoted in the London TIMES, May 17, 1998
Biography
The partner with Tim Bevan in Working Title Films, Eric Fellner and Bevan have the distinction of having produced or executive produced three consecutive nominees for the Academy Award for best picture -- "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994), "Dead Man Walking" (1995), and "Fargo" (1996), and their work with directors working outside the Hollywood system both in the U.S. and their native Britain has made their company a role model in the 90s. Fellner began his career for Zoetrope, a music video production outfit in Britain, and eventually produced videos for Duran Duran, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Rod Stewart, among others. Fellner founded the Initial Pictures company with partner Scott Millaney in 1985, and they produced their first feature film, "Sid and Nancy" about the singer of the Sex Pistols, released in 1986. This was followed by the "B movie" homage, "Straight to Hell" (1987), as well as "Pascali's Island" (1988), starring Ben Kingsley. Fellner and Initial Pictures executive produced "A Kiss Before Dying" and "Year of the Gun" (both 1991) before he split with Millaney and joined Bevan in Working Title. Bevan had already split from his original partner, Sarah Radclyffe, having established himself with such projects as "My Beautiful Laundrette" (1985), and "A World Apart" (1988). Fellner and Bevan plunged the newly-vitalized Working Title into cutting-edge filmmaking, executive producing Tim Robbins' directorial debut, "Bob Roberts" (1992), then producing Vincent Ward's "Map of the Human Heart" (1993). That same year, 1993, they executive produced Mario Van Peebles' "Posse." "Four Weddings and a Funeral," which starred Hugh Grant in a look at love and commitment, followed in 1994, the same year Working Title first associated with the Coen Brothers with Fellner and Bevan and executive producers of "The Hudsucker Proxy." In 1995, they worked again with Van Peebles, and his father, Melvin Van Peebles as well, as executive producers of "Panther," and also produced "French Kiss," a comedy starring Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline, and "Moonlight and Valentino," which while focusing on women and their need for love and relationships, may someday be best recalled as the film debut of Jon Bon Jovi. Also in 1995, Working Title associated anew with Tim Robbins for "Dead Man Walking." In 1996, came The Coen Brothers' "Fargo," on which Fellner and Bevan were executive producers. They again worked with the Coens in 1997 on "The Big Lebowski." Also in 1997, came the slapstick "Bean," "The Strangest Places," and a big-screen version of "The Borrowers," based on the novels for children by Mary Norton about a tiny human family living in the cracks of a house. Working Title had previously produced "The Borrowers" in two TV versions, both seen on TNT. Their other TV work includes the acclaimed miniseries "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City" for PBS, and Fellner produced the movie "Frankie's House" for A & E, about journalists in Vietnam (1993).
Filmography
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Producer (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1983
Founded Direct Productions
1985
Founded Initial Pictures (with Scott Millaney)
1986
Produced first feature film, "Sid and Nancy"
1991
Joined with Tim Bevan in Working Title Films
1992
Executive produced Tim Robbins' directorial debut, "Bob Roberts"
1994
Executive produced "Armisted Maupin's Tales of the City" for PBS
1994
First worked with the Coen brothers as executive producer of "The Hudsucker Proxy"
1994
Served as executive producer on the Oscar-nominated Best Picture "Four Weddings and a Funeral"
1995
Re-teamed with Tim Robbins as executive producer of "Dead Man Walking"
1995
Served as executive producer on "Panther," directed by Mario Van Peebles
1996
Second teaming with the Coen brothers on the award-winning "Fargo"
1997
Had international hit with the comedy "Bean," starring Rowan Atkinson
1997
Executive produced "The Big Lebowski" for the Coens
1998
Executive produced the period drama "Elizabeth"; earned first Academy Award nomination for Best Picture
1998
Established special effects subsidiary Double Negative
1999
Signed five-year deal with Universal
1999
Working Title released "Notting Hill" teaming Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts
2001
Co-Produced the romantic comedy "Bridget Jones Diary"
2003
Produced Richard Curtis' directorial debut "Love Actually"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy or Musical Picture
2004
Produced the sequel "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason"
2006
Produced the controversal "United 93"
2007
Again collaborated with Atkinson for "Mr. Bean's Holiday"
2007
Earned second Academy Award nomination for Best Picture for producing "Atonement"
2008
Co-produced with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"; earned an Academy Award nomination for Best motion picture of the year
2009
Produced the Richard Curtis directed, "Pirate Radio"
Bibliography
Notes
"It's both a curse and a blessing to be based in London. It's good that a lot of filmmakers are attracted to the allure of being able to come to us and we can finance their $40 million to $50 million movie and they don't have to work within the Hollywood studio system. On the other hand, it's a curse because if we're not physically in town in L.A., there's an eight-hour time difference. You miss people. Opportunities arise that disappear." --Eric Fellner in THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 16, 1997
"There are far more British directors and actors around than there are scriptwriters. That's the essential area of development for te British film industry right now. There's all this talk about shelves full of British films that can't get distribution, but I don't think there's a decent film out there that can't get a deal. Most of them just aren't very good." --Fellner, quoted in the London TIMES, May 17, 1998
"They have learned their lessons from their American counterparts: think big, be brave, take risks and look beyond the project into the target arena.As producers, they involve themselves with every aspect of the business of filmmaking, through the "fun" creative part involving script development, casting, choice of director and so on, right through to the non-creative post-shoot period which includes post-production, marketing, testing, distribution and promotional campaigns. Unlike many of their British colleagues, they are not auteur snobs but rather see themselves as international producers operating in a global market. And they have an unerring instinct for what will sell. They will put as much effort into promoting a relatively high-risk venture such as the Coen Brothers' 'Fargo' as they will with a more obvious crowd-pleaser like 'Bean', with equally impressive results. --From "Meet the Working Title Boys" by Neil Norman in London's Evening Standard, June 8, 1999.
