Neha Patil (Editor)

HandMade Films

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Area served
  
Worldwide

Services
  
Distribution

Headquarters
  
London, United Kingdom

Key people
  
David Francis

Founded
  
1978

Type of business
  
LSE: HMF (Private)

HandMade Films imagewikifoundrycomimage1JrQRZHK4oP9ojbRg9F

Industry
  
Filmmaking, Distribution

Products
  
Handmade Films Handmade Films international

Divisions
  
HandMade Films International

Founders
  
George Harrison, Denis O'Brien

Films produced
  
Monty Python's Life of Bri, Time Bandits, Withnail and I, Planet 51, Shanghai Surprise

HandMade Films is a British film production and distribution company. Notable films from the studio include Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time Bandits, Withnail and I and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Contents

History

HandMade Films was formed by former Beatle George Harrison and business partner Denis O'Brien in 1978 to finance the Monty Python film Life of Brian. 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. The first film started under the company was 1981's Time Bandits. The company continued to produce films through the 1980s.

Paragon Entertainment

In 1994, the company was acquired by the Canadian company Paragon Entertainment, which restarted production under the HandMade name. 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 2006 the Equator Group plc acquired Handmade Holdings Limited, and in November of that year Sequence Film Limited (a film sales, marketing and financial packaging company) was also acquired. It was subsequently renamed Handmade Films International. The parent company, now known as HandMade plc, is currently publicly traded under the symbol HMF.

On 7 January 2010, the company's shares were suspended on the London AIM stock market pending financial restructuring.

In July 2010, Handmade was purchased for £6.1 million by a syndicate of Jersey-based businessmen, at which time wealth-manager David Francis was reported to be deciding what to do with the business.

References

HandMade Films Wikipedia