HandMade Films
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HandMade Films was an English film production and distribution company based in London, active between 1978 and 2013. Notable films from the studio include Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), The Long Good Friday (1980), Time Bandits (1981) and Withnail and I (1987).<ref name="grdn">Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref name="grdn"/> Harrison had been introduced to O'Brien by actor Peter Sellers in 1973. Soon afterward the two went into business together.Template:Sfn The HandMade logo was drawn by Python's animator Terry Gilliam.<ref>An Accidental Studio (2019)</ref>
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.<ref name="screenonline">Template:Screenonline title</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref> Harrison, a friend and fan of the Pythons, mortgaged his Friar Park home to finance the feature.<ref name="grdn"/> Eric Idle of the Pythons later called it "the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history".Template:Sfn Life of Brian grossed $21 million at the box office in the US.Template: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."Template: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 PythonTemplate:'s Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin.Template:Sfn The film featured a new song by Harrison, "Dream Away", in the closing credits.Template: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.Template: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,<ref>Control Nathan Rabin 4.0 #73 Shanghai Surprise —— Nathan Rabin's Happy Place</ref> for which he recorded five new songs.Template: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."Template: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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn The company ceased operations in 1991<ref name="grdn"/> and was sold three years later to Paragon Entertainment Corporation of Toronto, Canada.Template:Sfn Afterward, Harrison sued O'Brien for $25 million for fraud and negligence, resulting in an $11.6 million judgment in 1996.<ref>Morris, Chris. "George Harrison Wins $11.6 Mill. In Suit Vs. Ex-Partner", Billboard, 3 February 1996: 13</ref><ref name="grdn"/> Following this event, the company was completely taken over by the Canadian investors.
New owner Paragon Entertainment Corporation restarted production under the HandMade name in 1996–1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name=variety>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ftblackwell>Template:Cite news</ref>
In June 1999, The Equator Group plc became the exclusive distributor and manager of the HandMade Films library,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and attempted to purchase the company from Cartier outright, but negotiations were unsuccessful until a reverse takeover agreement with Hand Made Holdings Ltd<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> announced on 15 May 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Equator Group reincorporated as HandMade Plc on 8 June 2006<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 29 April 2010, Almorah Services Ltd tendered a takeover bid, priced at £0.01 per share in cash<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> and HMF was delisted from the AIM on 29 June 2010.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> HandMade plc was re-registered as HandMade Limited, a private company, on 2 February 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Handmade Limited entered administration on 11 July 2012, liquidation on 24 April 2013,<ref name="Insolvency">Template:Cite press release</ref> and was dissolved on 22 February 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2016, Park Circus purchased distribution rights to the HandMade film library.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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".<ref name="Insolvency"/>
Filmography
References
Citations
Works cited
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External links
- Template: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
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