Tim Bevan

Last updated

Tim Bevan
CBE
Tim Bevan (cropped).jpg
Bevan in 2019
Born
Timothy John Bevan

(1957-12-20) 20 December 1957 (age 66) [1]
Queenstown, New Zealand
Education Cheltenham College
Sidcot School
OccupationFilm producer
Years active1984–present
Spouses
(m. 1992;div. 2001)
Amy Gadney
(m. 2001)
Children3, including Daisy Bevan

Timothy John Bevan, CBE (born 20 December 1957) is a New Zealand-British film producer, [2] the co-chairman (with Eric Fellner) of the production company Working Title Films. Bevan and Fellner are the most successful British producers of their era. Through 2017, the films he has co-produced have grossed a total of almost $7 billion worldwide. [3] As of 2017, films by Working Title Films have won 12 Academy Awards and 39 British Academy Film Awards. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Early life and education

Bevan was born in 1957 in Queenstown, New Zealand. [7] [1] From 1969—1974, he was educated at Sidcot School, [8] a Quaker boarding independent school in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Winscombe in North Somerset, in South West England. He then attended Cheltenham College, [9] a boarding independent school in the spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, in the West of England.

Life and career

Bevan co-founded Working Title Films in London with Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. [2] [10] Radclyffe left the company in 1991 and Eric Fellner joined to partner Bevan. [10] Among Bevan's more than 40 films as producer or executive producer include Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Elizabeth (1998), Notting Hill (1999), Billy Elliot (2000), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Love Actually (2003), Atonement (2007), Frost/Nixon (2008), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), The Theory of Everything (2014), and Darkest Hour (2017). Working Title are also notable for their long-time collaboration with American filmmakers the Coen brothers, having produced Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? among others.

Working Title signed a deal with Universal Studios in 1999 for a reported US$600 million, which gave Bevan and Fellner the power to commission projects with a budget of up to $35 million without having to consult their paymasters. [11]

Bevan is a co-producer of the West End musical Billy Elliot . [12]

Bevan was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2005 Birthday Honours for services to the British film industry. [13]

In 2013, he and Fellner received the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures from the Producers Guild of America. [14]

Along with Fellner, Lisa Bryer, David Heyman, Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, he founded the London Screen Academy in September 2019, a sixth form school teaching behind the camera skills to a student body of 800. [15]

Personal life

Bevan is divorced from English actress Joely Richardson; the two have a daughter, Daisy, born in 1992. Bevan is now married to Amy Gadney, and they have a daughter Nell, born 2001, and a son Jago, born 2003.

Filmography

Film

Producer

Executive producer

As an actor

Thanks

Television

Executive producer

YearTitleNotes
1988 Echoes
1992 The Borrowers
1993 Tales of the City
1998 More Tales of the City
2001 Further Tales of the City
2003About a BoyTelevision pilot
2008 Frontline Documentary
2007−10 The Tudors
2011 Love Bites
The Borrowers Television film
2012 Birdsong
True Love
2013 Mary and Martha Television film
2014 The Secrets
About a Boy
2015 You, Me and the Apocalypse
London Spy
2013−16 Yonderland
2017 Gypsy
2019 The Case Against Adnan Syed Documentary
Tales of the City
2020 The Luminaries
2019−20 Hanna
2021 We Are Lady Parts

Awards and honours

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References

  1. 1 2 UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960
  2. 1 2 "The Media 100, 2008: 51. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner". The Guardian. UK. 14 July 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  3. Thompson, Anne (10 July 2017). "Why Working Title's Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner Are the Best Indie Producers in the World Right Now". IndieWire. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  4. Adler, Tim (9 August 2010). "Working Title: Why UK's Most Successful Film Production Company Is Back In Its Wheelhouse". Deadline. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  5. Higgins, Charlotte (16 April 2005). "Interview: Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, co-chairmen Working Title Films". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  6. "About". Working Title Films. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  7. "Mountain Films Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  8. "Alumni of Sidcot School". Sidcot School, Somerset. Archived from the original on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  9. "Cheltenham College". Tatler. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  10. 1 2 "WT milestones". Variety . 14 December 1998. p. 106.
  11. "Producers give backbone to industry". BBC . 16 February 2004. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  12. Knight, Christina (14 September 2015). "Billy Elliot the Musical Live ~ Preview the Musical | Great Performances | PBS". Great Performances. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  13. "No. 57665". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2005. p. 7.
  14. King, Susan (14 November 2012). "Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner to receive Producers Guild honor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  15. "Eon, Working Title, and Heyday Launch London School Specializing in Industry Skills". Variety . 10 October 2018.
  16. The University of York: Graduation Ceremonies Central Hall, 10, 11 and 12 July 2013