Eric Fellner
Encyclopedia
Life and career
Fellner went to Cranleigh SchoolCranleigh School
Cranleigh School is an independent English boarding school in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. It was founded in 1865 as a boys' school and started to admit girls in the early 1970s. It is now co-educational. The current headmaster is Guy de W...
in Surrey, England from 1972-77. He attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
in London. He is a good friend of Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
, who is the star of some of Working Title's biggest box office hits. Fellner and his long-time partner, model Laura Bailey
Laura Bailey
Laura Bailey is an English model represented by Liz Matthews PR. She has modelled campaigns for Guess Jeans, L'Oreal, Jaguar, Jaeger, Marks and Spencer, Bella Freud and Temperley London. Laura also works as a writer and has written for Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Glamour, The Independent,...
, have two children together.
He was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
) in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the British film industry.
Fellner works with Working Title Films
Working Title Films
Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Tim Bevan
Tim Bevan
Tim Bevan, CBE is a film producer.Bevan was born in Queenstown, New Zealand. He co-founded Working Title Films in London with Sarah Radclyffe in the 1980s....
. Among Fellner's more than 60 films as producer or executive producer are Moonlight and Valentino
Moonlight and Valentino
Moonlight and Valentino is a 1995 American dramedy film directed by David Anspaugh. The screenplay by Ellen Simon is based on her semi-autobiographical play of the same title staged at Duke University six years earlier.-Plot:...
, Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
, Dead Man Walking
Dead Man Walking (film)
Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American drama film directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the non-fiction book of the same name...
, Fargo
Fargo (film)
Fargo is a 1996 American dark comedy-crime film produced, directed and written by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Frances McDormand as a pregnant police chief who investigates a series of homicides, William H...
, Notting Hill
Notting Hill (film)
Notting Hill is a 1999 British romantic comedy film set in Notting Hill, London, released on 21 May 1999. The screenplay was by Richard Curtis, who had written Four Weddings and a Funeral. It was produced by Duncan Kenworthy and directed by Roger Michell...
, United 93
United 93 (film)
United 93 is a 2006 fact-based historical drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Greengrass that chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked during the September 11 attacks...
and Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary (film)
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 2001 British romantic comedy film based on Helen Fielding's novel of the same name. The adaptation stars Renée Zellweger as Bridget, Hugh Grant as the caddish Daniel Cleaver, and Colin Firth as Bridget's "true love", Mark Darcy...
.
Working Title Films signed a deal with Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in 1999 for a reported $600 (USD) million, which gave Bevan and Fellner the power to commission projects with a budget of up to $35 (USD) million without having to consult their paymasters. It is now Britain’s largest independent production company with offices in London and Los Angeles. Successes include Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
(1994) which has grossed over $250 (USD) million worldwide. Dead Man Walking
Dead Man Walking (film)
Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American drama film directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the non-fiction book of the same name...
and Fargo
Fargo (film)
Fargo is a 1996 American dark comedy-crime film produced, directed and written by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Frances McDormand as a pregnant police chief who investigates a series of homicides, William H...
won Oscars in 1996 and 1997 respectively, while Elizabeth
Elizabeth (film)
Elizabeth is a 1998 biographical film written by Michael Hirst, directed by Shekhar Kapur, and starring Cate Blanchett in the title role of Queen Elizabeth I of England, alongside Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, Sir John Gielgud, Fanny Ardant and Richard Attenborough...
(1998) and Atonement
Atonement (film)
Atonement is a 2007 British romantic suspense war film directed by Joe Wright. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan. It was produced by Working Title Films and filmed throughout the summer of 2006...
(2007) were both nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award.