Film4 Productions

Film4 Productions is a British film production company and the feature film division of Channel 4 Television Corporation. Founded in 1982, the company develops and co-finances films from British and international filmmakers.
The company's productions have won numerous awards, including multiple Academy Awards, and British Academy Film Awards including Outstanding British Film and Film Not in the English Language in 2024, collectively winning 43 Oscars and 97 BAFTAs since its inception.

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History

Film4 began when founding Chief Executive, Jeremy Isaacs, assisted by deputy chairman Sir Richard Attenborough, convinced the board of directors of Channel 4 to provide an initial annual budget of £6 million to make films. The newly formed Channel Four Films was established with a mandate to make around 20 productions annually. Isaacs wanted the station to avoid association with 'single plays' or dramas and came up with the name Film on Four.
Christopher Morahan was offered the job as Commissioning Editor for Fiction but turned it down. Instead BBC producer David Rose, who was near retirement, was appointed.
The company’s first backed feature was Neil Jordan’s debut Angel, while Stephen Frears’ Walter was the company's first film broadcast on Channel 4, screened in the evening of the station's launch on 2 November 1982. P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang was screened the following day.
Originally, Channel Four Film’s productions were intended solely for television broadcast, as the industry’s “holdback” system restricted TV companies from investing in theatrical films. However, an agreement with the Cinema Exhibitors Association soon allowed limited cinema releases for productions with budgets under £1.25 million. Channel Four Films went on to collaborate with key British production entities such as the BFI Production Board, Goldcrest Films, and Merchant Ivory, and by 1984 was investing in roughly one-third of all feature films made in the United Kingdom. Their first theatrical success was The Draughtsman's Contract, although it was mainly a BFI production.
In 1983, the Business Development Department was established to oversee TV and film sales, and the company began investing in international titles, including Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas and Jan Švankmajer’s Alice. In 1985, FilmFour International was founded as a separate sales arm to handle international distribution and co-financing, supporting projects such as Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice.
Channel Four Films achieved its first major critical and commercial success with Stephen Frears's My Beautiful Laundrette. Originally shot in 16mm for television, it received international acclaim after screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival and was subsequently released theatrically by Orion Classics, becoming an international hit. By 1987, the company had an interest in half of all films produced in the UK, and had secured a licensing deal with Orion Classics for US distribution of titles including Rita, Sue and Bob Too and A Month in the Country.
Throughout the 1980s, Channel Four Films supported a number of British independent films that achieved critical attention, such as those by Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears, and Hanif Kureishi, and produced films including Wish You Were Here, Dance with a Stranger, Mona Lisa, and Letter to Brezhnev. Mike Leigh later described Film on Four as having “saved the British film industry...This is a non-negotiable, historical fact of life and anybody who suggests that this isn't the case is simply either suffering from some kind of ignorance or has got some terrible chip." David Rose remained in his role until 1990, approving the production of 136 films, half of which received theatrical releases.
Following Rose’s departure, David Aukin became Head of Drama in 1990, later retitled Head of Film in 1997. Under his leadership, the company enjoyed further international success with Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, alongside Howards End and Damage that same year. Mike Leigh’s ''Naked and Ken Loach’s Raining Stones were both entered into competition at the Cannes Film Festival">Cannes Film Festival">Cannes Film Festival, and subsequent releases such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, the highest-grossing UK film of all time, and Trainspotting became global box office hits.
In the mid-1990s, Channel 4 entered a joint venture with The Samuel Goldwyn Company to distribute films in the UK, later forming Film Four Distributors in 1995 after Goldwyn withdrew. Its first major successes included Secrets & Lies and Brassed Off. In 1998, the company was rebranded as FilmFour, with an increased annual budget of £32 million for 8–10 films. East Is East became its most successful self-funded production, and a three-year deal with Warner Bros, followed in 2000, its first collaboration, Charlotte Gray, underperformed.
The Film Four Lab, a unit focused on producing low-budget, experimental features, was set up in 1998, headed by Robin Gulch. In February of 2003, Gulch stepped down. Later that year, Peter Carlton was appointed as his successor.
Mounting financial losses led to significant restructuring in 2002, with the company reintegrated into Channel 4’s drama department. The brand was relaunched as Film4 Productions in 2006 to coincide with the rebranding of the Film Four channel as Film4.
The Film4.0 initiative was launched in 2011, funding such films as Ben Wheatley's A Field in England and the Nick Cave musical documentary 20,000 Days on Earth''. Eventually, the Film4.0 brand was quietly dropped.

Leadership

Years	Name	Position	Notes	Ref.
1982 - 1990	David Rose	Commissioning Editor for Fiction
1990 -	David Aukin	Head of Drama

Since Film4 returned to Channel 4 in 2002, the company has been run by a small number of senior executives responsible for film commissioning and production.

Years	Name	Position	Notes	Ref.
2002 - 2014	Tessa Ross	Head of Film4 and Channel 4 drama
2014 - 2016	David Kosse	Director of Film4
2016 - 2022	Daniel Battsek	Director of Film4	Subsequently became Chair
2017 - 2022	Ollie Madden	Head of Creative
2022 - 2025	Ollie Madden	Director of Film4	Left to join Netflix.
2024 - 2025	Ollie Madden	Oversaw Channel 4's drama commissioning.	Left to join Netflix.
2022-2023	Farhana Bhula	Senior Commissioning Executive
2023 - 2025	Farhana Bhula	Head of Creative
2025 -	Farhana Bhula	Director of Film4

Films and production slate

Film4’s productions include titles that have received awards or recognition, including:Poor Things, winner of the Oscar®, BAFTA, and Venice Golden Lion

The Zone of Interest, recipient of the Oscar®, BAFTA, and Cannes Grand Prix Earth Mama, winner of a BAFTA How to Have Sex, awarded the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes All of Us Strangers, recipient of a BIFA
, and .

Film4’s 2025–2026 production slate includes:Animol Sweetsick

A new project from Martin McDonagh

Upcoming releases include: The Voice of Hind Rajab, winner of the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the 82nd Venice Film Festival

The Thing With Feathers The History of Sound
H is for Hawk Rose of Nevada Sacrifice Surviving Earth.

Awards and recognition

Film4 Productions has received recognition for its contribution to the UK film industry, when, in 2023, it was honoured with the Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Contribution to UK Film at Screen International’s Big Screen Awards. The award celebrates companies or individuals whose work has shaped the UK film industry and supported the development of filmmakers’ careers.

Notable productions

The following is a list of some of the most notable films produced or co-financed by Film4.

Year	Title	Notes
1982	Angel
1982	Experience Preferred... But Not Essential
1982	Giro City
1982	Hero
1982	Moonlighting
1982	P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
1982	Remembrance
1982	The Draughtsman's Contract	Co-production with British Film Institute
1982	Walter
1983	Red Monarch	Co-production with Goldcrest Films and Enigma Productions
1983	The Ploughman's Lunch	Co-production with Goldcrest Films and Michael White
1984	Paris, Texas	Co-production with Westdeutscher Rundfunk
1985	A Room with a View	Co-production with Merchant Ivory Productions and Goldcrest Films
1985	A Zed and Two Noughts	Co-production with British Film Institute and Artificial Eye
1985	Dance with a Stranger
1985	My Beautiful Laundrette	Co-production with SAF Productions and Working Title Films
1985	She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas
1985	The Supergrass	Co-production with The Comic Strip and Michael White
1986	Comrades	Co-production with now-defunct National Film Finance Corporation
1986	When the Wind Blows	Co-production with Kings Road Entertainment
1986	Zastrozzi, A Romance
1987	A Month in the Country	Co-production with Euston Films
1987	Eat the Rich	Co-production with Michael White
1987	Hidden City
1987	The Belly of an Architect	Co-production with Hemdale Film Corporation
1987	Rita, Sue and Bob Too
1987	Sammy and Rosie Get Laid	Co-production with Working Title Films
1987	Wish You Were Here
1988	Drowning by Numbers
1988	High Hopes
1988	Stormy Monday	Co-production with Atlantic Entertainment Group
1989	Queen of Hearts	Co-production with Nelson Entertainment, TVS Television and Cinecom
1990	God on the Rocks
1990	Life Is Sweet
1991	Blonde Fist
1991	Hear My Song
1991	London Kills Me	Co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films
1991	Night on Earth	Co-production with JVC Entertainment, Victor Music Industries, Le Studio Canal + and Pandora Film
1991	Prospero's Books	Co-production with Canal+, Eurimages, VPRO, NHK, Cineplex Odeon Films and Palace Pictures
1991	Riff-Raff
1991	The Miracle
1991	The Pope Must Die	Co production with Miramax Films, Palace Pictures and Michael White
1992	Damage	Co-production with Le Studio Canal+ and Canal+
1992	Dust Devil	Co-production with Miramax Films
1992	Howards End
1992	Peter's Friends	Co-production with The Samuel Goldwyn Company
1992	The Crying Game	Co-production with British Screen, Eurotrustees, Nippon Film Development and Finance and Palace Pictures
1992	Waterland
1992	Wild West
1993	Wittgenstein	Co-production with the British Film Institute
1993	Bad Behaviour
1993	Bhaji on the Beach
1993	Blue	Co-production with BBC Radio 3 and Arts Council of Great Britain
1993	Raining Stones
1993	The Baby of Mâcon	Co-production with UGC and Canal+
1994	Backbeat	Co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
1994	Bandit Queen	Co-production with Kaleidoscope Entertainment
1994	Death and the Maiden	Co-production with Capitol Films, Canal+, TF1 and Fine Line Features
1994	Four Weddings and a Funeral	Co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films
1994	Ladybird, Ladybird
1994	Shallow Grave
1994	Shopping	Co-production with Kuzui Enterprises and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
1994	Sister My Sister
1994	The Acid House
1994	The Madness of King George	Co-production with The Samuel Goldwyn Company
1994	A Pin for the Butterfly
1995	Angels & Insects	Co-production with The Samuel Goldwyn Company
1995	Blue Juice
1995	Institute Benjamenta	Co-production with Pandora Film
1995	Nothing Personal	Co-production with Bórd Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board
1995	The Neon Bible	Co-production with Artificial Eye
1996	Beautiful Thing
1996	American Buffalo	Co-production with Capitol Films
1996	Brassed Off	Co-production with Miramax Films and Prominent Features
1996	Carla's Song	Co-production with Glasgow Film Office and Televisión Española
1996	Secrets & Lies	Co-production with Ciby 2000
1996	The Pillow Book	Co-production with Canal+
1996	Trainspotting
1996	Trojan Eddie	Co-production with Bórd Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board
1996	True Blue
1996	Walking and Talking	Co-production with Miramax Films, Zenith Productions, Pandora Film, Mikado Films, Electric, TEAM Communications Group, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Good Machine
1997	A Life Less Ordinary	Co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and 20th Century Fox
1997	Bent	Co-production with Arts Council of England
1997	Career Girls
1997	Fever Pitch
1997	Welcome to Sarajevo	Co-production with Miramax Films
1997	The Woodlanders	Co-production with Pathé Productions and Arts Council of England
1998	Croupier	Co-production with Arte and Westdeutscher Rundfunk
1998	Dancing at Lughnasa	Co-production with Sony Pictures Classics, Bórd Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board, Raidió Teilifís Éireann and Capitol Films
1998	Elizabeth	Co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Meridian and Working Title Films
1998	Hilary and Jackie
1998	Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
1998	My Name Is Joe
1998	Orphans	Co-production with Scottish Arts Council and Glasgow Film Office
1998	The Land Girls	Co-production with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Gramercy Pictures, Intermedia Films and Canal+
1998	The Red Violin	Co-production with New Line Cinema, Lionsgate, Telefilm Canada and CITY-TV
1998	Velvet Goldmine	Co-production with Newmarket Capital Group, Miramax Films, Killer Films and Zenith Entertainment
1999	With or Without You	Co-production with Miramax Films and Revolution Films
1999	Buena Vista Social Club	Co-production with Road Movies Filmproduktion and Arte
1999	Dogma	Produced by View Askew
1999	East Is East
1999	Gregory's Two Girls
1999	Holy Smoke!	Co-production with Miramax Films
1999	Sunshine	Co-production with Alliance Atlantis, Eurimages, Telefilm Canada, The Movie Network, Kinowelt, TV2, ORF and Paramount Classics
1999	The Debt Collector
1999	The Straight Story	Co-production with StudioCanal and Walt Disney Pictures
2000	Dancer in the Dark	Co-production with Canal+, France 3 Cinéma, Zentropa and Fine Line Features
2000	Bread and Roses
2000	Gangster No. 1	Co-production with Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Road Movies Filmproduktion and BSkyB
2000	Purely Belter
2000	Sexy Beast	Co-production with Kanzaman, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Recorded Picture Company
2000	The House of Mirth	Co-production with Granada Productions, Kinowelt, Arts Council of England, Showtime Networks and The Scottish Arts Council
2000	The Filth and the Fury	Co-production with Jersey Films
2001	Birthday Girl	Co-production with Miramax Films, Mirage Enterprises and HAL Films
2001	Charlotte Gray	Co-production with Ecosse Films and Warner Bros.
2001	Christmas Carol: The Movie	Co-production with UK Film Council
2001	Buffalo Soldiers	Co-production with Good Machine and Miramax Films
2001	Dog Eat Dog	Co-production with Tiger Aspect Productions
2001	Gabriel and Me	Co-production with Pathé, Isle of Man Film and UK Film Council
2001	K-PAX	Co-production with Universal Pictures and Intermedia Films
2001	Invincible	Co-production with Fine Line Features
2001	Late Night Shopping	Co-production with Scottish Screen and Glasgow Film Office
2001	Lucky Break	Co-production with Paramount Pictures and Miramax Films
2001	Series 7: The Contenders	Co-production with USA Films
2001	The Navigators	Co-production with Road Movies Filmproduktion, Westdeutscher Rundfunk and Arte
2001	The Low Down	Co-production with British Screen, Oil Factory and Sleeper Films
2001	Very Annie Mary	Co-production with Canal+
2002	24 Hour Party People	Co-production with United Artists, UK Film Council, Revolution Films and Baby Cow Productions
2002	Death to Smoochy	Co-production with Senator Film and Warner Bros.
2002	Once Upon a Time in the Midlands	Co-production with UK Film Council
2003	The Actors	Co-production with Miramax Films and Bórd Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board
2003	To Kill a King	Co-production with Natural Nylon and HanWay Films
2003	Touching the Void	Co-production with Channel 4, UK Film Council, Darlow Smithson Productions and PBS
2004	Dead Man's Shoes
2004	Enduring Love	Co-production with Pathé, UK Film Council and Ingenious Film Partners
2004	Shaun of the Dead	Co-production with Big Talk Productions, Working Title Films, StudioCanal, Universal Pictures and Rogue Pictures
2004	The Motorcycle Diaries
2005	Brothers of the Head	Co-production with Screen East and EM Media
2005	The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse	Co-production with Universal Pictures and Tiger Aspect
2005	Me and You and Everyone We Know
2005	The King
2006	Deep Water
2006	Venus	Co-production with UK Film Council and Miramax Films
2006	The Last King of Scotland	Co-production with DNA Films and Fox Searchlight Pictures
2006	This Is England	Co-production with UK Film Council, Optimum Releasing, Screen Yorkshire and Warp Films
2007	Funny Games	Co-production with Warner Independent Pictures and Tartan Films
2007	And When Did You Last See Your Father?	Co-production with Sony Pictures Classics, UK Film Council, EM Media, Tiger Aspect, Bórd Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board and European Development Fund
2007	In the Shadow of the Moon	Co-production with Discovery Films and Passion Pictures
2007	Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
2007	Hallam Foe	Co-production with Ingenious Film Partners, Glasgow Film Office, Scottish Screen and Sigma Films
2007	Mister Lonely	Co-production with Recorded Picture Company
2007	Straightheads	Co-production with Ingenious Film Partners and UK Film Council
2008	Slumdog Millionaire	Co-production with Celador Films
2008	How to Lose Friends & Alienate People	Co-production with UK Film Council
2008	Hunger
2008	Franklyn	Co-production with Recorded Picture Company, HanWay Films and UK Film Council
2008	Happy-Go-Lucky	Co-production with Ingenious Film Partners and Summit Entertainment
2008	In Bruges	Co-production with Focus Features
2008	A Complete History of My Sexual Failures	Co-production with Warp Films, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media, Madman Entertainment and UK Film Council
2008	Donkey Punch	Co-production with EM Media, Madman Entertainment, Screen Yorkshire, UK Film Council and Warp X Productions
2009	Bunny and the Bull	Co-production with Warp X Productions, Wild Bunch, Optimum Releasing, Screen Yorkshire and UK Film Council
2009	Looking for Eric	Co-production with Icon Entertainment International and Wild Bunch
2009	Hush	Co-production with Warp X, Pathé, Screen Yorkshire, UK Film Council and Optimum Releasing
2009	Nowhere Boy	Co-production with UK Film Council, Ecosse Films and The Weinstein Company
2009	The Lovely Bones	Co-production with DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures
2009	The Scouting Book for Boys	Co-production with Celador Films, Screen East and Pathé
2010	Four Lions	Co-production with Warp Films, Wild Bunch and Optimum Releasing
2010	127 Hours	Co-production with Pathé, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Everest Entertainment, Cloud Eight Films, Darlow Smithson Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures
2010	Another Year	Co-production with Thin Man Films
2010	Neds	Co-production with Scottish Screen, UK Film Council and Wild Bunch
2010	Never Let Me Go	Co-production with DNA Films and Fox Searchlight Pictures
2010	Submarine	Co-production with Red Hour Films and Warp Films
2011	Attack the Block	Co-production with Big Talk Productions, StudioCanal and UK Film Council
2011	Kill List	Co-production with UK Film Council, Warp X, Screen Yorkshire and Rook Films
2011	One Day	Co-production with Focus Features, Random House Films and Color Force
2011	Shame	Co-production with Fox Searchlight Pictures, UK Film Council, See-Saw Films, HanWay Films and Momentum Pictures/Alliance Films
2011	The Deep Blue Sea	Co-production with UK Film Council and Artificial Eye
2011	The Eagle	Co-production with Focus Features
2011	The Emperor's New Clothes
2011	The Future	Co-production with Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
2011	The Great Bear
2011	The Inbetweeners Movie	Co-production with Bwark Productions, Young Films and Entertainment Film Distributors
2011	The Iron Lady	Co-production with Pathé, UK Film Council and The Weinstein Company
2011	The Woman in the Fifth	Co-production with UK Film Council, Canal+, Orange Cinéma Séries and Artificial Eye
2011	Tyrannosaur	Co-production with Warp X, Inflammable Films, UK Film Council, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media, and Optimum Releasing
2018	The Favourite	Co-production with Fox Searchlight Pictures and Element Pictures
2018	The Festival	Co-production with Entertainment Film Distributors
2018	The Little Stranger	Co-production with Pathé, Canal+ and Element Pictures
2018	Cold War	Co-production with British Film Institute and MK2
2018	American Animals
2018	An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn	Co-production with British Film Institute
2018	Been So Long	Co-production with Netflix and British Film Institute
2018	Peterloo	Co-production with British Film Institute, Amazon Studios and Thin Man Films
2018	Widows	Co-production with 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises and See-Saw Films
2019	How to Build a Girl	Co-production with Tango Entertainment, British Film Institute, Monumental Pictures, Protagonist Pictures
2019	Rocks
2019	Saint Maud	Co-production with British Film Institute, Escape Plan Productions and StudioCanal
2019	The Personal History of David Copperfield	Co-production with FilmNation Entertainment
2019	Greed	Co-production with Columbia Pictures and Revolution Films
2019	Dirt Music	Co-production with ScreenWest
2019	Fighting with My Family	Co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, WWE Studios and Seven Bucks Productions
2019	True History of the Kelly Gang	Co-production with Film Victoria and Screen Australia
2020	Dream Horse	Co-production with Cornerstone Films, Ingenious Media, Raw, Topic Studios, FFilm Cymru Wales, Bleecker Street, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and Warner Bros. Pictures
2021	Boxing Day	Co-production with British Film Institute, Rocket Science, DJ Films, Studio 113 and Warner Bros. Pictures
2021	Everybody's Talking About Jamie	Co-production with New Regency Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warp Films
2021	Last Night in Soho	Co-production with Focus Features and Working Title Films
2022	The Banshees of Inisherin
2022	Brian and Charles	Co-production with British Film Institute and Mr Box Productions
2023	Zone of Interest
2023	All of Us Strangers	Co-production with Blueprint Pictures and Searchlight Pictures
2023	Poor Things	Co-production with Searchlight Pictures and Element Pictures
2024	Kinds of Kindness	Co-production with Searchlight Pictures and Element Pictures
2024	We Live in Time
2024	Love Lies Bleeding
2024	Sister Midnight
2024	The Shadow Scholars
2025	Hot Milk
2026