The History and Role of Vertigo Films

Vertigo films was set up in 2002, specifically to produce 2 new british films and contribute to the british film industry in commercially driven independent cinema. These films were 'The Football Factory' and 'Its all gone Pete Tong', both with British cultural influences, and the institution is now continuing to produce four films each year, under their own distribution company (they make many joint ventures with other British production and distribution companies, including FilmFour). Some of these latest releases are 'Street Dance 3D' and 'The Firm' (which is claimed to be the UK's number 1 DVD on the official website). It is clear that the advances in technology and a larger amount of finance has allowed this change, now producing 3D films to match the new cultures of cinema to increase their revenue and make watching the film more of a memorable experience.

Vertigo films has used innovative technology, meticulous attention to budget and great care of the audience to produce a large amount of success. Many films have a 'gritty' appearance, with a contrasting representation of Britain to Working Title Films, where films like 'Goodbye Charlie Bright' have themes of gang violence, but 'Love Actually' by Working Title has a more positive representation of culture, making character's lives appear very optimistic.

Award-winning films
It's All Gone Pete Tong:
Best Canadian Feature — Toronto International Film Festival — 2004
Best Feature — US Comedy Arts Festival — 2005
Best Actor (Paul Kaye) — US Comedy Arts Festival — 2005
Grand Jury Award — Gen Art Film Festival — 2005
Audience Award — Gen Art Film Festival — 2005
Best British Columbian Film — Vancouver Film Critics Circle — 2005
Best Male Performer' (Mike Wilmot) — Canadian Comedy Awards — 2005
Best Overall Sound — Leo Awards — 2005
Best Sound Editing — Leo Awards — 2005
Best Feature-Length Drama — Leo Awards — 2005
Clean:
Best Actress (Maggie Cheung) — Cannes Film Festival — 2004
London to Brighton:
Best Achievement in Production — British Independent Film Awards — 2006
Golden Hitchcock (Paul Andrew Williams) — Dinard Festival of British Cinema — 2006
New Director's Award (Paul Andrew Williams) — Edinburgh International Film Festival — 2006
Most Promising Newcomer (Paul Andrew Williams) — Evening Standard British Film Awards — 2007
Best Feature Film — Foyle Film Festival — 2006
Jury Prize (UK Feature) — Raindance Film Festival — 2006
Shotgun Stories:
New American Cinema Award — Seattle International Film Festival — 2007

Vertigo Films has also recently released a New York-set thriller named WAZ, one of the companies first films not set in Britain.

Films in development
Dogging: A Love Story (2007) Production Company
The Sweeney (scheduled 2008) Production Company
The Wake Wood (2009)
Monsters
Untitled Cage Rage Project (scheduled 2009) Production Company; Distributor—UK all media
StreetDance (2010)

In addition to its production and distribution activity, Vertigo also owns The Post Republic, a successful state of the art post production company based in Berlin and is a partner in Protagonist Pictures, the sales company joint venture with Film Four and Ingenious Media.

LINKS:

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/technology/vertigo-films-teams-up-with-us-firm-for-3d-company/5010000.article

www.vertigofilms.com

The Vertigo Films-owned Post Republic, based in Berlin, is also involved in the joint venture and will provide post-production services. The Vertigo Films-owned Post Republic, based in Berlin, is also involved in the joint venture and will provide post-production services.