# Eric Fellner
**Eric Fellner** (born 1959) is an English film producer who, as co-chairman of [Working Title Films](https://www.edgepedia.org/working-title-films) with [Tim Bevan](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-bevan) since 1992, has been among the most commercially successful producers based in Britain, with credits including *Four Weddings and a Funeral*, *Bridget Jones's Diary*, *Les Misérables*, and the films of the [Coen brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/coen-brothers).[1](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/eric-fellner-bridget-jones-s-diary-producer-says-gordon-brown-helped-revitalise-the-uk-film-industry-a6716506.html) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/apr/16/business.hayfilmfestival2005)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959, Marylebone, London, England[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0271479/) |
| Position | Co-chairman, Working Title Films, with Tim Bevan, since 1992[1](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/eric-fellner-bridget-jones-s-diary-producer-says-gordon-brown-helped-revitalise-the-uk-film-industry-a6716506.html) |
| Output | More than 100 produced movies; Working Title productions have garnered almost 50 Oscars and Baftas[1](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/eric-fellner-bridget-jones-s-diary-producer-says-gordon-brown-helped-revitalise-the-uk-film-industry-a6716506.html) |
| Company scale | Working Title grossed $3 billion between 1992 and 2005[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/apr/16/business.hayfilmfestival2005) |
| Personal honors | Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE); Zurich Film Festival Career Achievement Award, 2013[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eric-fellner/bio/3030581623/) |
| Oscar record | Six Oscar nominations as a producer from 1999 to 2018; IMDb lists 7 Oscar nominations and 22 wins and 58 nominations overall[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eric-fellner/bio/3030581623/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0271479/) |
## Early career
Fellner began in the film business producing music videos in the early 1980s, working with acts including [Fleetwood Mac](https://www.edgepedia.org/fleetwood-mac), Duran Duran, and [Elton John](https://www.edgepedia.org/elton-john).[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eric-fellner/bio/3030581623/) He then ran his own company, Initial Films, whose feature debut was [Alex Cox](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-cox)'s *Sid and Nancy* (1986), starring Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-24-ca-22308-story.html) Director Alex Cox, who worked with him on that film, recalled Fellner's skill at stretching a small budget across an 11-week schedule and putting all the money on the screen.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/apr/08/features) His early producing credits also include *Straight to Hell* (1987) and executive producer roles on *A Kiss Before Dying* and *Year of the Gun* (both 1991).[7](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/174799-Eric-Fellner?cp=1&cxt=Producer&pos=0&sid=5615b3fe-ba7d-49fe-88fd-cea5f64e6084&sr=0.12229004)
## Working Title Films
Working Title was founded by the New Zealand-born producer Tim Bevan with Sarah Radclyffe, and its first feature was [Stephen Frears](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-frears)'s *My Beautiful Laundrette* (1985).[8](https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/feb/17/features.review117) • [5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-24-ca-22308-story.html) Fellner joined in 1992, when the music group PolyGram took over the company and Radclyffe departed, and he has co-chaired it with Bevan ever since.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/24/tim-bevan-eric-fellner-film-power-100) • [10](https://minoa008208.wixsite.com/workingtitles-base/blank-cjg9) Some popular references describe Fellner as a co-founder of the company; the company histories place its founding with Bevan and Radclyffe and Fellner's arrival in 1992.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eric-fellner/bio/3030581623/) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/24/tim-bevan-eric-fellner-film-power-100)
**The Universal deal.** Under PolyGram, the partners worked essentially as salaried employees of a company that owned 100% of theirs. After Universal finalized its acquisition of PolyGram's film business, the two signed a 1999 agreement with [Universal Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-pictures) that gave them profit participation on their films, green-light authority for budgets up to the $15-million-to-$20-million range, and a five-year contract with an incentive formula tied to a percentage of profits. A Guardian account puts the deal's value at £389 million.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-mar-26-fi-21096-story.html) • [6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/apr/08/features) What distinguished them from most British producers, the Los Angeles Times noted, was that they ran a self-contained company with in-house physical production, finance, legal, and creative departments, operating from London's Soho district rather than Hollywood.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-mar-26-fi-21096-story.html) Universal renewed the arrangement in 2007 with a seven-year deal under which the producers kept full creative autonomy, shared in their films' profits, and retained the company and its library, which Universal had acquired in 1999.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-13-fi-universal13-story.html)
**Output and range.** Between 1992 and 2005 the company grossed $3 billion, with British hits including *Four Weddings and a Funeral*, *Notting Hill*, *Elizabeth*, *Bridget Jones's Diary*, and *Billy Elliot*, alongside the Coen brothers' work from *The Hudsucker Proxy* onward, including *Fargo*.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/apr/16/business.hayfilmfestival2005) By 2015 Fellner had produced more than 100 movies, and the company's productions had gathered almost 50 Oscars and Baftas; his credits in that period include *Les Misérables* and *The Theory of Everything*.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/eric-fellner-bridget-jones-s-diary-producer-says-gordon-brown-helped-revitalise-the-uk-film-industry-a6716506.html) Later producing credits include *The Danish Girl* (2015), *Baby Driver* (2017), *Last Night in Soho* (2021), *Blitz* (2024, directed by [Steve McQueen](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-mcqueen)), and [Ethan Coen](https://www.edgepedia.org/ethan-coen)'s *Drive-Away Dolls* (2024) and *Honey Don't!* (2025).[13](https://in.bookmyshow.com/person/eric-fellner/IEIN107372) • [14](https://www.filmskool.online/person/eric-fellner) He has also produced stage musicals, with *Billy Elliot* running in the West End from 2005, on Broadway from 2008, and on US tour from 2010.[15](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Eric-Fellner/)
## Working method
Fellner has described the producer's role as "the glue which binds the creative processes of filmmaking to the commercial reality of the film business."[16](https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/8753/1/Working%20Title%20Films%20and%20Transatlantic%20British%20Cinema.pdf) Colleagues describe the Bevan–Fellner partnership as close: the director [Stephen Daldry](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-daldry), who made *Billy Elliot* with them, said the two never contradict each other, so that talking to one feels like talking to both; the screenwriter [Peter Morgan](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-morgan) called them "fantastic navigators of the system"; and Stephen Frears, who directed Working Title's first feature, has called them the most powerful film producers ever to be based in London.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/apr/08/features) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/24/tim-bevan-eric-fellner-film-power-100) Fellner often works with the actor [Hugh Grant](https://www.edgepedia.org/hugh-grant), a friend, on Working Title productions.[13](https://in.bookmyshow.com/person/eric-fellner/IEIN107372)
## Recognition
Fellner was appointed a [Commander](https://www.edgepedia.org/commander) of the [Order of the British Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/order-of-the-british-empire) and received the Zurich Film Festival Career Achievement Award in 2013; TV Guide credits him with six Oscar nominations as a producer between 1999 and 2018, and lists a 1999 Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film win and a 2012 Hollywood Film Award for Producer of the Year among his honors.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eric-fellner/bio/3030581623/) He is a trustee of FILMCLUB, a charity that sets up film clubs in schools and childcare organizations in the United Kingdom.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eric-fellner/bio/3030581623/)
## References
1. [Eric Fellner: Bridget Jones's Diary producer says Gordon Brown helped revitalise the UK film industry, The Independent (2015)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/eric-fellner-bridget-jones-s-diary-producer-says-gordon-brown-helped-revitalise-the-uk-film-industry-a6716506.html)
2. [The producers, The Guardian (2005)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/apr/16/business.hayfilmfestival2005)
3. [Eric Fellner, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0271479/)
4. [Eric Fellner Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eric-fellner/bio/3030581623/)
5. [They're Not Just 'Bean' Counters, Los Angeles Times (1998)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-24-ca-22308-story.html)
6. [Britflick's twin towers of power, The Guardian (2001)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/apr/08/features)
7. [Eric Fellner filmography, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/174799-Eric-Fellner?cp=1&cxt=Producer&pos=0&sid=5615b3fe-ba7d-49fe-88fd-cea5f64e6084&sr=0.12229004)
8. [The real powers that be, The Guardian (2002)](https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/feb/17/features.review117)
9. [Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, No 12, Film power 100, The Guardian (2010)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/24/tim-bevan-eric-fellner-film-power-100)
10. [About Working Title Films (fan/compilation site)](https://minoa008208.wixsite.com/workingtitles-base/blank-cjg9)
11. [Two Producers and a Deal, Los Angeles Times (1999)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-mar-26-fi-21096-story.html)
12. [Producers said to stick with Universal, Los Angeles Times (2007)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-13-fi-universal13-story.html)
13. [Eric Fellner, BookMyShow profile](https://in.bookmyshow.com/person/eric-fellner/IEIN107372)
14. [Eric Fellner, FilmSkool](https://www.filmskool.online/person/eric-fellner)
15. [Eric Fellner theatre credits, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Eric-Fellner/)
16. [Nathaniel Townsend (2014), Working Title Films and Transatlantic British Cinema, PhD thesis, University of York](https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/8753/1/Working%20Title%20Films%20and%20Transatlantic%20British%20Cinema.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen production organizations › Production companies and industry people › Production founders and executives › British and Irish studio and television executives*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license