Summer Homework

Dylan Starr - Summer Homework

Establishment 

Initially, the creators - Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen - both worked at Palace and Scala Productions where they were award winning producers after having created some of the UK’s most distinguished films from the 1980’s onwards. 

In 2005 however, they were awarded a widely coveted Slate Development Funding scheme from the UK Film Council and invested it into their shared independent production company, Number 9 Films. 

Stephen Woolley 

Has spent a lifetime in the movie and film making business. His career began in 1976 in a cinema in London where he helped manage the cinema. This led to him going on to own his own cinema, The Scala, which was praised for it’s “diverse, original and alternative programming”.  

His production work includes a series of low budget but high value movies, such as the Academy Award winning “The Crying Game”. 

Elizabeth Karlsen  

Began her career in independent film production in New York but then returned to London to work as Head of Production for the production company Palace Pictures, which was co-run by her husband and partner, Stephen Woolley.  

Credits to her name include Mark Herman’s Little Voice, which was nominated for six Golden Globe Awards including Best Actor, which Michael Caine went on to win, and an Academy Award nomination for Brenda Blethyn as Best Actress. The film was also nominated for six British Academy Awards including Best Picture. 

Aims 

The company aims to: 

• Produce at least two to three movies a year. 
• Be one of the UK’s leading independent production companies.  
• Invest in and hold strong relationships with a wide range of talented actors, actresses and filmmakers all over the world. 

Genres 

A genre (as defined by the free online dictionary) is a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.  

Number 9 films does not confine itself to one particular genre, with movies such as How to Lose Friends and Alienate People fitting into a comedy genre but Sounds Like Teen Spirit instead falling into a documentary category.  

The benefits of not restricting the company to one genre or convention of film can be that it would make movies appealing to larger target audiences and therefore generating a larger profit.  

Filmography and Upcoming Releases  

• Made in Dagenham 2010: Nominated for four BAFTA awards, including Outstanding British Film, Best Supporting Actress, Make Up and Hair and Costume Design.  
• Perrier's Bounty 2009: Nominated for four IFTA’s including Best Film, Best Actor in a Lead Role, Best Screenplay and Best Actor in a Supporting Role.  
• Sounds Like Teen Spirit 2008: Released to rave reviews. It was variously described as “The most wonderful movie since Slumdog” (The London Lite), “utterly infectious” (Charles Gant, Heat Magazine), “unmissable” (The Daily Mirror)  
• How To Lose Friends & Alienate People 2008: With a £180000 budget returning a £1,154,607 profit in the first weekend, this was one of Number 9 films most successful films  
• And When Did You Last See Your Father? 2008: Described as “an unflinching exploration of a father/son relationship” and directed by Anand Tucker who was previously nominated for an Academy Award. 
• Breakfast On Pluto 2005: Set in the 1970s, Breakfast on Pluto is a darkly comic story about a young transvestite growing up in Ireland and was written and directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire) 
• Stoned 2005: This is a murder mystery about the death of one of the most talented musicians of the ‘60s who couldn’t or wouldn’t write pop songs. Directed by Number 9 Films creator Stephen Woolley.  
• Mrs. Harris 2005: Based on a true story Mrs. Harris tells the tragic, quirky and unlikely tale of Jean Harris, who hit the headlines in 1980 after shooting and killing her lover, the Scarsdale diet doctor, Herman Tarnower.