Film Four the channel

Film Four themes:

• 50 films to see before you die.
• Film Four's Fright Fest was a week of horror films.

Film Four is available on Sky under the movies , channel 315. There is also a Film Four +1 channel, channel 316 on sky. Film Four is also available on Freeview channel 15 but Film Four +1 has been replaced by Channel 4 +1. Film Four is available on Virgin media (Channel number 428, Film Four +1 channel number 430. Virgin also has a Film Four HD channel, number 429) and Freesat (Film Four channel 300, Film Four +1 channel number 301)

Freesat is a digital TV service, similar to Freeview. t offers 140+ channels. It is a small company, only 24 employees and it is jointly owned by BBC and ITV. Packages include Freesat+ to record, pause and rewind and also Freesat HD.

Film Four Successes

Slumdog millionaire

A Mumbai teen is on an Indian version of "who wants to be a millionaire" He knows every answer and is arrested on suspicion of cheating. During his interrogation the reasons for his knowing every answer is revealed.

Directedby Danny Boyle

Stars: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto.

Release date was 9th Janaury 2009

Runtime: 120 minutes

Budget: £15,000,000

Gross: £141, 319,195 (USA)

           £31,283,374    (UK)

Reviews

The Times-James Christopher: 4/5 stars. "Exotic, edgy thrier"

The Guardian-Peter Bradshaw:3/5 stars.It's got punch and narrative pizzazz"

One flew over the cuckoo's nest

Budget: £4,400,00

Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Danny DeVito

Jack Nicholson arrices at a mental institute, bargaining his way in to avoid a spell in prison. On arrival he discovers Ratched, a nurse come dictator. He rallies the patients to together to rebel agaisnt her.

Recieved 8.9/10 by IMDB

Grossed £112,000,000 in the USA.

Jaws

Budget: £8,000,000

Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss.

Martin Brody has just become the new cheif of police of Amity Island. The island becomes pestered by a very large shark hungry for people. It comes down to Martin Brody and Martin Shaw to kill the giant shark nicknamed Jaws.

The film recieved four out of five stars from IMDB.

Grossed £69,725,376 in the USA
Grossed £470,653,000 worldwide.

Jaws was the first film to use extensive telvision advertising campaigns. It was advertised every night on prime time telly up to its release.

Film four

Film four was established in 1998

Film four has a budget of £15,000,000 a year

Film four is controlled by Tessa Ross

New releases from Film four include: End of the year, let me in and Slumdog Millionaire.

Film four tend to focus on films on Social Realism.

Film four has recently created Film Four OD. Channel Four partnered with Filmflex to create the new online viewing service.

As it is a British production company it finances British films.

Part of Channel Fours remit was to experiment and innovate and cater for audiences not addressed by other channels (niche audiences)

Film Four fund around 20 films per year.

They look for distinctive films which will make there mark in a competive cinema market.

Films are premiered two years after theatrical releases, they are only premiered on Film Four, Channel four or a sister company.

David Rose, commissioning editor "a preference for contemporary and social political topics"
Examples including My Beautiful Laundrette, Which portrayed a homosexual relationship between a white facist and Omar.

Film Four is in association with the Uk's museum of moving image (MOMI) and often has various film related weeks and weekends. E.g Horror week or sci fi weekend.

Film Four has a subsidary group named the Film Four lab which supports the "newest amd most striking creative voices and visions of tommorrow's cinema in Britain"

Tessa Ross described Film Four:
"The remit is to make adventorous contemporary films outside the studio system"

Slumdog Millionaire was not a usual Film Four film.

"Film Four looks for "contemporary stories which are British talent led"

In the UK, the UK film council, Film Four and BBC films remain the three main financers.