Английская Википедия:HandMade Films

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HandMade Films was a British film production and distribution company. Notable films from the studio include Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time Bandits, The Long Good Friday and Withnail and I.

History

Foundation

HandMade Films was formed by former Beatle George Harrison and business partner Denis O'Brien in 1978 to finance the controversial Monty Python film Life of Brian. Harrison had been introduced to O'Brien by actor Peter Sellers in 1973. Soon afterward the two went into business together.Шаблон:Sfn The HandMade logo was drawn by Python's animator Terry Gilliam.

When the original financiers of Brian, EMI Films, pulled out of the project less than a week before filming was to commence, the creators had to find other financing. Harrison, a friend and fan of the Pythons, mortgaged his home in order to finance the feature. Eric Idle of the Pythons later called it "the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history".Шаблон:Sfn Life of Brian grossed $21 million at the box office in the US.Шаблон:Sfn

Harrison explained: "The name of the company came about as a bit of a joke. I'd been to Wookey Hole in Somerset ... [near] an old paper mill where they show you how to make old underpants into paper. So I bought a few rolls, and they had this watermark 'British Handmade Paper' ... So we said ... we'll call it Handmade Films."Шаблон:Sfn

First film and growth of productions

The first film distributed by HandMade Films was The Long Good Friday (1980), and the first it produced was Time Bandits (1981), a co-scripted project by Monty PythonШаблон:'s Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin.Шаблон:Sfn The film featured a new song by Harrison, "Dream Away", in the closing credits.Шаблон:Sfn Time Bandits became one of HandMade's most successful and acclaimed efforts; with a budget of $5 million, it earned $35 million in the US within ten weeks of its release.Шаблон:Sfn

Harrison served as executive producer for 23 films with HandMade, including the Oscar-nominated Mona Lisa, Shanghai Surprise and Withnail and I. He made several cameo appearances in these films, including a role as a nightclub singer in Shanghai Surprise, for which he recorded five new songs.Шаблон:Sfn According to Ian Inglis, Harrison's "executive role in HandMade Films helped to sustain British cinema at a time of crisis, producing some of the country's most memorable movies of the 1980s."Шаблон:Sfn In 1987, HandMade Films made an agreement with independent motion picture distributor Island Pictures to distribute four films for limited theatrical release from 1987 to mid-1988: The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Track 29, The Raggedy Rawney and Bellman and True.

Changes of ownership and recent history

Following a series of box office bombs in the late 1980s and excessive debt incurred by O'Brien, which was guaranteed by Harrison, HandMade's financial situation became precarious.Шаблон:Sfn The company ceased operations in 1991 and was sold three years later to Paragon Entertainment Corporation of Toronto, Canada.Шаблон:Sfn Afterward, Harrison sued O'Brien for $25 million for fraud and negligence, resulting in an $11.6 million judgment in 1996.

New owner Paragon Entertainment Corporation restarted production under the HandMade name in 1996–1997. The company's most notable release of that era was Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). In 1999, Patrick Meehan and Cartier Investments acquired HandMade from Paragon.

In June 1999, The Equator Group plc became the exclusive distributor and manager of the HandMade Films library, and attempted to purchase the company from Cartier outright, but negotiations were unsuccessful until a reverse takeover agreement with Hand Made Holdings Ltd announced on 15 May 2006.

The Equator Group reincorporated as HandMade Plc on 8 June 2006 and the new company was traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) stock exchange (changing its ticker symbol from EQG to HMF). Trading of HandMade plc shares was suspended several times, notably June to October 2009, after the company failed to provide 2008 audit results to shareholders.

On 29 April 2010, Almorah Services Ltd tendered a takeover bid, priced at £0.01 per share in cash and HMF was delisted from the AIM on 29 June 2010. HandMade plc was re-registered as HandMade Limited, a private company, on 2 February 2011. Handmade Limited entered administration on 11 July 2012, liquidation on 24 April 2013, and was dissolved on 22 February 2018.

In 2016, Park Circus purchased distribution rights to the HandMade film library.

In 2017, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, three HandMade Limited directors were disqualified from acting as a director of a company: Patrick Anthony Meehan for 13 years, David Bernard Ravden for five-and-a-half years, and Peter William Parkinson for four years. The directors misused funds to "pay off relatives" and "on matters undisclosed to advisers, shareholder or potential investors".

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
1970s
1979	Monty Python's Life of Brian	Terry Jones	95% (64 reviews)	77% (15 reviews)
	A Sense of Freedom	John Mackenzie	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
1980s
1980	The Long Good Friday	John Mackenzie	96% (28 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
1981	Time Bandits	Terry Gilliam	89% (46 reviews)	79% (18 reviews)
	Tattoo	Bob Brooks	33% (6 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
	Venom	Piers Haggard	43% (7 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
	The Burning	Tony Maylam	86% (7 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
1982	Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl	Terry Hughes (live segments) Ian MacNaughton (film segments)	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
	Scrubbers	Mai Zetterling	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
	The Missionary	Richard Loncraine	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
	Privates on Parade	Michael Blakemore	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
1983	Bullshot	Dick Clement	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
1984	A Private Function	Malcolm Mowbray	88% (8 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
1985	Water	Dick Clement	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
1986	Mona Lisa	Neil Jordan	97% (30 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
	Shanghai Surprise	Jim Goddard	13% (8 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
1987	Withnail and I	Bruce Robinson	94% (31 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
	Bellman and True	Richard Loncraine	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
	The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne	Jack Clayton	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
1988	Track 29	Nicolas Roeg	67% (6 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
	Five Corners	Tony Bill	78% (9 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
	The Raggedy Rawney	Bob Hoskins	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
1989	Checking Out	David Leland	20% (5 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
	How to Get Ahead in Advertising	Bruce Robinson	57% (14 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
	Powwow Highway	Jonathan Wacks	100% (9 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
1990s
1990	Cold Dog Soup	Alan Metter	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
	Nuns on the Run	Jonathan Lynn	42% (26 reviews)	Шаблон:N/A
New ownership - 1994
1996	Intimate Relations	Philip Goodhew	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
1997	The Wrong Guy	David Steinberg	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
1998	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels	Guy Ritchie	75% (65 reviews)	66% (30 reviews)
2000s
2006	Eloise: The Animated Series	Wes Archer	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
2008	Manolete	Menno Meyjes	colspan="2" Шаблон:N/A
	Fifty Dead Men Walking	Kari Skogland	84% (51 reviews)	57% (16 reviews)
2009	Planet 51	Jorge Blanco	22% (108 reviews)	39% (21 reviews)
	Cracks	Jordan Scott	43% (49 reviews)	54% (12 reviews)
2010s
2010	127 Hours	Danny Boyle	93% (224 reviews)	82% (38 reviews)

References

Works cited

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book

External links

• Шаблон:Official website
• HANDMADE LIMITED (03270629) company overview (1996-2018) at Companies House
• 1988 Interview with George Harrison at Film Comment
• An Accidental Studio documentary about the history of HandMade films