Photograph: Tim Bevan (left) with Co-chairman Eric Fellner of Working Title Films
Watch the full interview with Tim Bevan
"Sidcot taught me to think for myself" says Tim Bevan from Sidcot School on Vimeo.
Four Weddings and a Funeral producer and co-founder of Working Title Films, Tim Bevan, has said his time at Sidcot, an independent Quaker school in Somerset, taught him to think for himself and to live adventurously. In an interview for the school’s website, Mr Bevan said: “The biggest take-away for me from a Sidcot education was ‘don’t be afraid to think for yourself’. I learnt tenacity, resilience, and not necessarily taking no for an answer”.
Tim Bevan co-founded Working Title Films with Sarah Radclyffe in 1983 and to date the company has produced over 100 films including Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary, About A Boy, Billy Elliott, Atonement and Hot Fuzz which was filmed in Wells, just 13 miles from his former school.
Independent thought and creativity is highly valued by the film industry. Tim Bevan who now co-chairs Working Title Films, Britain’s largest production company, with Eric Fellner, said: “I see hundreds of kids trying to get jobs and the people who have individuality and can think for themselves are the people who always shine through”.
These qualities continue to be nurtured and encouraged at Sidcot School to this day. Outstanding academic success is applauded, but equally prized are students’ social skills, emotional intelligence, resilience and their determination to make a difference in the world.