FilmFour/Film on Four
FilmFour/Film on Four
British Film Series
The series Film on Four was announced on the opening night of Channel 4 in November 1982 and helped to immediately draw attention to the distinctions between this and the three existing British television channels. Ostensibly, Film on Four occupies a curious position within British television. It was established by Jeremy Isaacs, Channel 4's first chief executive, following a European model, to encourage mainly new, independent filmmakers by offering funding for fictional, mainly feature length films. This was intended to lead to cinema distribution in many cases, where a film might gain a reputation before transmission on Channel 4. Film on Four is often considered to be particularly significant within film culture for providing vital financial support and for commissioning many films that have gained high regard. Indeed, Isaacs's film investment policies made little economic sense in strictly television terms. He managed to secure around 8 percent of Channel 4's total programming funds and allocated it to fictional one-offs that would fill only 1 percent of airtime. However, it would be constrictive to overlook Film on Four's integral position within television culture.
Film on Four: Shallow Grave.
Photo courtesy of Channel Four
Bio
Traditionally the BBC had been the prime producer and supporter of television drama. However, in the period leading up to the early 1980s, it became increasingly difficult for the BBC to produce the single play for reasons involving changing production values, censorship, and declining resources. The first head of Film on Four, David Rose, whose background was in BBC regional drama, commissioned a series of films that collectively represent a renaissance of highly contemporary drama. The films Rose promoted followed a writerly formula of neorealism with socially displaced characters firmly positioned in a regional landscape. The resultant work, including Neil Jordan's Angel (1982) and Colin Gregg's Remembrance (1982), has been defined as being uncompromised by television's institutional modes of representation or by cinematic demands of impersonal spectacle.
Film on Four's only early success in the cinema was Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract (1982), and, although the series had been established to encourage new ideas, in the early years the media argued that most of its products brought little that was innovative to television. Media support, credibility, and international acclaim started to be gained three years on, primarily by Rose's investment in Wim Wender's art-house classic Paris, Texas (1984) and his funding of the surprise success My Beautiful Launderette (Stephen Frears, 1984). Rose was awarded a special prize at Cannes (1987) for services to cinema and was heralded in Britain as the savior of the film industry. Film on Four' s successful output began to multiply with films such as A Room with a View (1985), Hope and Glory (1987), Wish You Were Here (1987), and A World Apart (1987), doing well at both the domestic and international box office. In addition to promoting new directors such as Stephen Frears and Chris Menges, Film on Four encouraged the work of established filmmakers including Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman, and Agnes Varda. After touring the festival circuit and cinema distribution, the films were transmitted on television to respectable, although by no means outstanding, viewing figures-audiences averaged 3 million per film in 1990.
As only a minority of Film on Four products succeeded in returning any money to Channel 4, a general agreement was reached at the end of the 1980s that a large portion of the budget needed to be diverted to higher-rated, long-form drama. Rose was succeeded by David Aukin, who continued to implement the recent policy of deliberate under commissioning. With its much reduced budget, Film on Four could not keep up with massive inflation in production costs. Additionally, a sense of a general decrease in the quality of new projects and emerging talent surrounded the organization. Aukin showed less interest in promoting the film industry than in television itself and aimed to concentrate on films a television audience would want to watch, rather than cinema award winners.
In 1994 Channel 4 had a worldwide hit with the film Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). In the wake of this success, Channel 4 increased Film on Four's annual budget to £16 million. The successful streak initiated by Four Weddings and a Funeral continued with the critically acclaimed Shallow Grave (1994), Sense and Sensibility (I 995), and Secrets and Lies (I 996).
David Aukin stepped down in 1997. The chief executive of Channel 4, Michael Jackson, introduced Film Four Ltd., a production studio headed by Paul Webster. With doubled investments in filmmaking, FilmFour produced another hit, East is East (1999), which took £10 million at the U.K. box office.
Despite these successes in the 1990s, the early 2000s have been difficult. In 2000, FilmFour signed a three-year deal with Warner Brothers. However, the first film produced under this deal, Charlotte Gray (2002), was a critical and box office failure. This was a blow for FilmFour, given its lack of a hit since I999.
Under Mark Thompson, who replaced Michael Jackson as chief executive of Channel 4 (Jackson left at the end of 200 I), FilmFour Ltd. was closed. The focus has been returned to airing films on television, under the name FilmFour.