Feb. 27--Rose Garnett, an executive at the British movie company Film4, has found herself in an unusual situation lately.
After watching Oscar nominees such as "Carol," "45 Years" and "Ex Machina," acquaintances in the entertainment business have walked up to Garnett and asked if she's seen those films.
That's an odd statement for a simple reason: Garnett is a principal at the company that helped make them.
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"They'll ask if I've seen these movies, and I'll say, 'Well, yes, actually,'" Garnett noted dryly.
Such is life for the executives at Film4, the biggest Oscar powerhouse you've never heard of.
Outside of 20th Century Fox, which has racked up nominations via all-category contenders such as "The Revenant," Film4 is behind more Oscar nominees than any other movie entity, including perennial Academy favorites the Weinstein Co., Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co. Film4 has 15 nominations, including best picture contender "Room," which it developed and co-financed.
Still, as Film4 basks in an unusually high batting average, it also faces a crossroads. Under current director David Kosse, the company is caught between its traditional focus on developing high-quality films that yield all these Oscar movies and the increasing pressures of globalization and technology. The Oscar business isn't easy for a reason.
Formed in the early 1980s as a production extension of government-backed television station Channel4, Film4 began hitting its stride a little more than a decade ago under former chief Tessa Ross. The company began solidifying a reputation for the kind of upscale movies that tend to win awards.
Though it is not sufficiently capitalized to fully finance movies itself, London-based Film4 is often the point of entry for filmmakers, acquiring material and helping to mold it into a camera-ready state.
Because the company is on board projects so early, it's often overshadowed when a film moves further through the pipeline. "Carol" and "Room," for instance, are most associated with distributors Weinstein and A24, which is why Film4's Oscar attention is so scant.
