Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Switzerland, owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, that screens films.

Programming[link]

Film4 did not originally focus on broadcasting blockbusters, but nowadays broadcasts many mainstream Hollywood movies. The channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred around one genre, director or actor are shown. As Channel 4 also owns a film production company, Film4 Productions, it shows many of its in-house productions.

Occasional non-film (but film-related) programmes are also shown.

Wherever possible, films are shown in their correct aspect ratio.^{[citation needed]} No digital on-screen graphics are superimposed. Under UK broadcasting rules, it was able to screen most films unedited and in earlier timeslots when it was a subscription channel, but these concessions were lost when it became free-to-air, and more adult material is now confined to after the 9pm watershed. Some films are also now edited to make them suitable for pre-watershed screenings, a decision which was criticised by viewers on the channel's now defunct internet forum.

History[link]

Film4 was originally known as FilmFour and became Channel 4's second channel (after Channel 4 itself) when it launched on 1 November 1998. It was a subscription-only service available on satellite television via the Sky platform, digital terrestrial via ITV Digital (until the platform went into administration in 2002), and most UK cable services. It cost £5.99 or £6.00 a month (depending on platform), eventually rising to up to £7. The launch night, which was also broadcast on Channel 4, was hosted by Johnny Vaughan and the first film to be shown was What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Later, additional channels were added, FilmFour World and FilmFour Extreme which operated on a timeshare and the timeshift channel FilmFour +1. FilmFour World and Extreme were discontinued in 2003 and replaced by FilmFour Weekly, which screened four films across the week at the same time each day to make it easier to catch a film at least once.^[1] FilmFour Weekly ceased broadcasting on 19 July 2006 when the subscription service ended.

The subscription service ended on 19 July 2006 and the channel re-launched (under the slightly modified name of Film4) as a free-to-air service a few days later on 23 July. When the channel became free, it also returned to digital terrestrial as part of the Freeview brand, and became completely free-to-air on satellite television. Due to the change, the channel's availability increased from 300,000 (subscribers) to 18 million households. It also changed its broadcasting hours to 12:45 - 08:45, and commercial breaks were included during films for the first time. The first film broadcast under the new format was the British non-subscription television premiere of Lost in Translation. With the exception of Movies4Men available on a local multiplex in Greater Manchester only, Film4 remains the only free film channel available on digital terrestrial television.

Prior to 20 August 2007 Film4 operated a one-hour-timeshift channel, Film4+1, on satellite, cable and Freeview. This channel was dropped on Freeview to make way for Channel 4+1 but continues to be broadcast on Sky, Virgin and Freesat services.^[2] TalkTalk TV offers the non timeshifted channel along with a Video on demand service, Film4 on Demand.

From 23 May 2009, the broadcasting hours were changed to 11:00 - 04:00, with it broadcasting teleshopping or an animated caption stating it will return at 11:00 during the downtime hours.

High Definition[link]

On 20 July 2010, Film4 HD launched exclusively on Virgin Media's cable television platform on channel 429.^[3][4]

On 1 November 2010, Film4 partnered with FilmFlex to launch Film4oD.^[5]

Relaunch advertising campaign[link]

To alert the public to it going free-to-air, Film4 launched a massive campaign directed by Kevin Spacey featuring major celebrities advertising Film4 in odd ways. The slogan of the campaign was "FILMS FOR FREE". Examples include:

• Judi Dench in a lobster costume, operatically singing the words "Film Four!"
• Lucy Liu in a banner plane, insulting Ray Winstone and Christian Slater who have incorrectly erected a 'Film4 is free' sign, whilst her own banner is displayed upside-down.
• Ewan McGregor in a tomato costume, talking to Judi Dench about whether he is a fruit or a vegetable.
• Gael García Bernal putting leaflets, advertising Film4, onto cars and setting off their alarms. To which he then throws the remaining leaflets in the air.
• Willem Dafoe saying to one of the advertising campaigners (played by Mackenzie Crook), "First day? It'll get better."
• Rhys Ifans advertising the channel door-to-door, but often having a door slammed in his face.

Sky Movies parodied this campaign with the slogan: "FILMS AD FREE", referring to the commercial breaks during films.

Viewing share[link]

Film4 share of viewing 1998–2007 BARB figures

See also[link]

• 50 Films to See Before You Die

Notes[link]

1. ^ FilmFour moves mainstream, BBC, 21 March 2003
2. ^ Chris Tryhorn (5 July 2007). "Channel 4 launches '+1' timeshift service". Media Guardian. http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2119529,00.html. Retrieved 5 July 2007. 
3. ^ "Film4 HD To Launch Exclusively On Virgin Media". Virgin Media. 8 March 2010. http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=205406&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1399781&highlight=. 
4. ^ "About Film4HD". Film4. http://www.film4.com/features/article/hd. Retrieved 7 July 2010. 
5. ^ "Channel 4 launches Film4 on-demand". Digital Spy. 1 November 2010. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitaltv/news/a285390/channel-4-launches-film4-on-demand.html. 

External links[link]

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Saoirse Ronan
Ronan at 2008 City of Ember Belfast Premiere
Born	Saoirse Una Ronan[1] (1994-04-12) 12 April 1994 (age 18)[2] New York City, New York,[3] U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2003–present

Saoirse Una Ronan (Irish pronunciation: [ˈsˠiːɾˠʃə]; roughly SEER-shə; born 12 April 1994^[1]) is an Irish film actress. She began her career as a child and came to international prominence in 2007 after co-starring in the film Atonement, which gained her nominations for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[4][5][6][7]

Ronan has since appeared in several Hollywood films, including the children's Christmas story The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (2007), with Tom Berenger and Joely Richardson, the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007), the film adaptation of the science fantasy Young Adult novel City of Ember (2008), Death Defying Acts (2008), the war drama film The Way Back (2010) and Hanna (2011). She was awarded a Saturn Award and a second BAFTA Award nomination for her portrayal in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones (2009).

Personal life[link]

Born in New York City, Ronan is the only child of Irish parents Paul and Monica Ronan – the former an actor^[8] – who were living in New York at the time.^[3] Her family is Catholic.^[9] She was raised in County Carlow, Ireland, having moved there when she was three years old.^[10] She is currently home schooled and lives in County Carlow.^[11][12] As a baby, she sometimes accompanied her father on the set when he was working on such films as The Devil's Own^[13] and Veronica Guerin (film).

Ronan supports the Irish Blue Cross, as the charity had reunited her with her runaway dog Sassie.^[14] On her name, she said, "'Seer-sha' is how Irish people pronounce my first name, but I would pronounce it 'Ser-sha,' like 'inertia'. It's Irish for 'freedom.' I recently found out that my middle name, Una, means 'unity' in Ireland. And I think my last name means 'seal.' So I’m a free, unified seal."^[1]

Career[link]

2003–2008[link]

She made her screen debut on Irish public service broadcaster RTÉ, in the 2003 primetime medical drama The Clinic and the 2004–2005 mini-serial Proof.^[15] During the same time, Ronan auditioned to play Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a role she eventually lost out to Evanna Lynch.^[16]

Ronan in 2007.

At the age of twelve, Ronan was asked to attend a casting call for Joe Wright's 2007 film adaptation of Ian McEwan's 2001 novel Atonement.^[17] She auditioned for and won the part of Briony Tallis, an aspiring 13-year-old novelist, who irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit. Starring alongside Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, Wright grew more and more impressed with Ronan on-set, who declared her role a "fantastic part [to play]."^[17] Budgeted at US$30 million, the film became a financial and critical success, resulting in a worldwide box office total of US$130 million and various awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film, Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama, and an 2008 Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.^[18] Ronan herself received rave reviews for her performance, with Ty Burr of the Boston Globe calling her "remarkable [and] eccentric,"^[19] and was subsequently nominated for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, ranking her among the youngest persons ever to be nominated for the latter.^[20]

Ronan's next film was Amy Heckerling's often-delayed romantic comedy film I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007). Initially shot in mid-to fall 2005 in Los Angeles and London, the film went straight-to-DVD in the United States and other major market territories after it had struggled to attract financing and several deals disintegrated during its post-production in spite of its budget of US$25 million.^[21] In the film, Ronan portrayed the character of Izzie Grossman, the pubescent daughter of a television show screenwriter, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who falls for a younger man (Paul Rudd), while Izzie falls in love for the first time herself. Upon its release, the independent project garnered generally lukewarm reviews, with Joe Leydon of Variety summing it as "a desperately unfunny mix of tepid showbiz satire and formulaic romantic comedy."^[22]

In 2008, Ronan starred in both Death Defying Acts and City of Ember. In Gillian Armstrong's supernatural romantic thriller Death Defying Acts, she played Benji McGarvie, the daughter of an impoverished and uneducated psychic, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, who begins a passionate affair with legendary magician Harry Houdini at the height of his career. Ronan was awarded an Irish Film & Television Award for her performance.^[20] Released to a mixed reception,^[23] the film was not a success at the box office, barely grossing US$8.3 million worldwide.^[24] In Gil Kenan's City of Ember Ronan starred as Lina Mayfleet, a teenager who must save the people of the fictional underground city named Ember. The fantasy film, based on the 2003 novel by Jeanne DuPrau, received mixed reviews from critics,^[25] and grossed US$17 million worldwide, well below its US$55 million budget.^[26]

2009–present[link]

Ronan at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2009, Ronan appeared alongside Rachel Weisz and Stanley Tucci in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones (2009), an adaptation of the same-titled book by Alice Sebold. In the film, Ronan plays 14-year-old Susie Salmon, who, after being murdered, watches from the "in-between" as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. Ronan and her family were originally hesitant for Ronan to accept her role in the film because of its subject matter, but agreed after meeting with Jackson, who described her as "just amazing on-screen."^[27] The Lovely Bones was released to mainly mixed reviews from critics,^[28] who criticised the film's story and its message.^[29] Praised for the acting however, particularly of Ronan, whose performance Richard Corliss of Time commented as "magic,"^[29] the film garnered various accolades, winning Ronan a Critics' Choice Award, a Saturn Award and a second BAFTA Award nomination for her portrayal the following year.^[20]

In 2010's The Way Back, directed by Peter Weir, Ronan played the character of Irena, a Polish orphan, who joins a group of prisoners who escape from the gulag in Siberia in 1940 and attempt to make a 4,000 mile trek to India. Shot on location in Bulgaria, India and Morocco alongside Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell and Ed Harris,^[30] the war drama film received generally positive reviews,^[31] with The Telegraph calling it "a journey that feels awful and heroic and unfathomable – and one you’ll want to watch again."^[32] Her performance in the film garnered Ronan her fourth Irish Film & Television Award.^[20]

In 2011, Ronan starred in the title role of the action thriller film Hanna, which marked her reunion with Atonement director Joe Wright.^[13]

In November 2011, Ronan took part in a promotion for the Irish Film Institute Archive Preservation Fund, in which she was digitally edited into popular Irish films of the past, such as Once and My Left Foot, as well as documentary footage on the arrival of John F. Kennedy at Dublin Airport and the GAA All-Ireland finals.^[33]

As announced, Ronan will play a teen assassin in Geoffrey Fletcher's directing debut Violet & Daisy.^[34] In addition, she will star as Melanie Stryder in Andrew Niccol's film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's novel The Host,^[35][36] and appear in director Neil Jordan's adaptation of the play Byzantium.^[37] As reported, Ronan is in talks to play Daisy in the film adaptation of the 2004 novel How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff.^[38]

Filmography[link]

Further reading[link]

• Cluain Dolcain: A Brief Note, Charles Doherty, in Seanchas: Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour of Francis John Byrne, pp. 182–188, edited by Alfred P. Smyth, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2000. ISBN 978-1-85182-489-2

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saoirse Ronan

• Saoirse Ronan at the Internet Movie Database

Sir Peter Jackson
Jackson at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	(1961-10-31) 31 October 1961 (age 50) Pukerua Bay, New Zealand
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Fran Walsh (1987–present)

Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM^[1] (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, who is well known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001 to 2003), adapted from the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien.

He won international attention early in his career with his "splatstick" horror comedies beginning with Bad Taste (1987) before coming to mainstream prominence with Heavenly Creatures (1994), for which he shared an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination with his wife, Fran Walsh. Jackson has been awarded three Academy Awards in his career, including the award for Best Director in 2003; he also won the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Saturn Award for Best Direction the same year.

His films also include Meet the Feebles (1989), Braindead (1992), Forgotten Silver (1995), The Frighteners (1996), King Kong (2005),^[2] The Lovely Bones (2009), and the upcoming The Lord of the Rings prequels The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (2013). He is also the producer of District 9 (2009) and The Adventures of Tintin (2011).

Jackson was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. He was later knighted (as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) by then Governor-General Anand Satyanand at a ceremony in Wellington in April, 2010.

Early life[link]

Jackson, an only child, was born on 31 October 1961. He grew up in Pukerua Bay, a coastal town near Wellington. His parents - Joan (born Ruck^[3][4]), a factory worker and housewife, and William (Bill) Jackson, a wages clerk - were both immigrants from England.^[5][6] His father was a veteran of the Siege of Malta in World War II. He is distantly related to Richard Hill^[7] a member of the English 2003 Rugby World Cup winner.

As a child, Jackson was a keen film fan, growing up on Ray Harryhausen films as well as finding inspiration in the television series Thunderbirds and Monty Python's Flying Circus. After a family friend gave the Jacksons a Super 8 cine-camera with Peter in mind, he began making short films with his friends. Jackson has long cited King Kong as his favourite film and around the age of nine he attempted to remake it using his own stop-motion models.^[8] Also as a child Jackson made a WWII epic^{[citation needed]} and a James Bond spoof named Coldfinger.^[9] Most notably though was a 10 minute short called 'The Valley' which won him a special prize because of the shots he used.

In school Jackson expressed no interest (or skill) in sports. His classmates also remember him wearing a Duffel coat with " an obsession verging on religious."

Jackson had no formal training in film-making, but learned about editing, special effects and make-up largely through his own trial and error. As a young adult Jackson discovered the work of author J. R. R. Tolkien after watching The Lord of the Rings (1978), an animated film by Ralph Bakshi that was a part-adaptation of Tolkien's fantasy trilogy.^[10]

When he was 16 years old, Jackson left school and began working full time as a photo-engraver for the local newspaper. For the 7 years he worked there, Jackson lived at home with his parents so he could save as much money as possible to spend on filming equipment. After two years of work Jackson bought a 16 mm camera, and began shooting a short film that later became Bad Taste.^[11]

Career[link]

The splatter period[link]

Over four years (from 1983 to 1987) Jackson's first feature, Bad Taste, grew in haphazard fashion from a short film into a 90-minute splatter comedy, with many of Jackson's friends acting and working on it for free. Shooting was normally done in the weekends since Jackson was now working full-time. Bad Taste is about aliens that come to earth with the intention of turning humans into food. Jackson had two acting roles including a famous scene in which he fights himself on top of a cliff.

The film was finally completed thanks to a late injection of finance from the New Zealand Film Commission, after Jim Booth, the body's executive director, became convinced of Jackson's talent (Booth later left the Commission to become Jackson's producer). In May 1987, Bad Taste was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival, where rights to the film quickly sold to twelve countries.

Around this time Peter Jackson began working on writing a number of film scripts, in varied collaborative groupings with playwright Stephen Sinclair, writer Fran Walsh and writer/actor Danny Mulheron. Walsh would later become his wife. Some of the scripts from this period, including a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street, have never been made into movies; the proposed zombie film Braindead underwent extensive rewrites.

Jackson's next film to see release was Meet the Feebles (1989), co-written by the four writers mentioned above. An ensemble musical comedy starring Muppet-style puppets, Meet the Feebles originally began as a short film intended for television, but was rapidly expanded into a full-length film after unexpected enthusiasm from Japanese investors, and the collapse of Braindead, six weeks before filming. Begun on a very low budget, Meet the Feebles went weeks over schedule. Jackson stated of his second feature length film, "It's got a quality of humour that alienates a lot of people.. It's very black, very satirical, very savage."^[12] Feebles marked Jackson's first collaboration with special effects team Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger, who would later work on all Jackson's movies.

Jackson's next release was the horror comedy Braindead (1992) (released in North America as Dead Alive), now seen as a landmark in splatter movies. Originally planned as a Spanish co-production, the film reversed the usual zombie plot. Rather than keeping the zombies out of his place of refuge, the hero attempts to keep them inside, while maintaining a façade of normality. The film features extensive special effects including miniature trams, stop motion and a plethora of gory make-up effects.

[edit] Heavenly Creatures and Forgotten Silver

Released in 1994 after Jackson won a race to bring the story to the screen, Heavenly Creatures marked a major change for Jackson in terms of both style and tone. The film is based on real-life events: namely the Parker–Hulme murder in which two teenage girls in 1950s Christchurch became close friends, some say lovers, and later murdered the mother of one of the girls. Jackson's partner Fran Walsh helped persuade him that the events had the makings of a movie; Jackson has been quoted saying that the film "only got made" because of her enthusiasm for the subject matter.^[13] Many New Zealanders were apprehensive about how Jackson would treat the material, an apprehension that would later turn in many cases to relief. The film's fame coincided with the New Zealand media tracking down the real-life Juliet Hulme, who now wrote books under the name Anne Perry. Jackson would cast the actors Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in the roles of Parker and Hulme. Heavenly Creatures received considerable critical acclaim, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and making top ten of the year lists in Time, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The New Zealand Herald.