Number 9 Films

Number 9 Films is a British independent film production company co-founded in 2002 by producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, after a long collaboration at both Palace Pictures and Scala Productions.^[1][2][3]

Number 9 Films

Industry	Film
Founded	2002
Founder	Elizabeth Karlsen Stephen Woolley
Headquarters	London, England , United Kingdom
Products	Motion Pictures
Website	number9films.co.uk

Between them the principles' movies have garnered 57 BAFTA nominations and wins, and 23 Academy Award® nominations and wins.^[4][5]

Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen were jointly honoured with the BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award in 2019.^[6][7]

In 2019, Number 9 Films entered into a multi-year agreement with film studio and cinema chain Shochiku for distribution of its theatrical films in Japan. The studio would also contribute funding for film development.^[8][9]

In 2024, Beta Film took a stake in Number 9 TV, a new small screen subsidiary of the production company.^[10]

Projects

Their latest feature LIVING,^[11] scripted by Kazuo Ishiguro and starring Bill Nighy - a reworking of Kurosawa’s classic IKIRU - received numerous accolades including 3 BAFTA Award nominations^[12] and 2 Academy Award® nominations.^[13] The company also served as co-executive producers on ANOTHER END,^[14] starring Gael García Bernal and Renate Reinsve, which was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival.^[15] Upcoming projects include Fleur Fortuné's THE ASSESSMENT, starring Alicia Vikander,  Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel;^[16] award-winning theatre director Marianne Elliott's feature debut THE SALT PATH, starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs;^[17] and Kei Ishikawa's A PALE VIEW OF HILLS, adapted from Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro's novel of the same name.^[18]

Karlsen and Woolley have produced some of the most celebrated independent films in the US and Europe including:^[19] Todd Haynes’s CAROL,^[20] starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara (nominated for 6 Academy Awards®,^[21] 6 Golden Globe Awards,^[22] and 9 BAFTA Awards^[23]); Mark Herman’s LITTLE VOICE, starring Jane Horrocks and Michael Caine (winner of a Golden Globe Award,^[24] nominated for 1 Academy Award®,^[25] 6 Golden Globe Awards, and 6 BAFTA Awards); Neil Jordan’s THE CRYING GAME, starring Stephen Rea and Forest Whitaker (winner of an Academy Award®,^[26] a BAFTA Award, and nominated for 6 Academy Awards®); MADE IN DAGENHAM, starring Sally Hawkins and Rosamund Pike (nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards); Phyllis Nagy’s MRS. HARRIS, starring Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley (nominated for 12 Emmy® Awards, 3 Golden Globe Awards,^[27] and a PGA Award); Wash Westmoreland’s COLETTE, starring Keira Knightley and Dominic West (nominated for 4 BIFAs and an Independent Spirit Award); and Paolo Sorrentino’s YOUTH, starring Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel (nominated for 1 Academy Award®^[28] and winner of 3 European Film Awards). Karlsen’s credits also include LADIES IN LAVENDER, SIXTY SIX and NEON BIBLE. Woolley’s producing credits also include COMPANY OF WOLVES, MONA LISA, SCANDAL, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, BACKBEAT, MICHAEL COLLINS, THE BUTCHER BOY, STONED (which Woolley also directed) and INTERMISSION.

Filmography

Year	Title	Worldwide box office	Notes
2004	Return to Sender
2005	Mrs. Harris		Nominated for twelve Emmy Awards[29]
2005	Stoned	$174,758[30]
2005	Breakfast on Pluto	$3.9 million[31]	Nominated for 11 Irish Film & Television Academy awards.[32]
2006	Sixty Six	$1.9 million[33]
2007	And When Did You Last See Your Father?	$2.7 million[34]	Nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards[35]
2008	Sounds Like Teen Spirit
2008	How to Lose Friends & Alienate People	$19.2 million[36]	Production budget: $28 million.
2009	Perrier's Bounty	$167,938[37]
2010	Made in Dagenham	$15.6 million[38]	Production budget: £5 million. Nominated for four British Academy Film Awards Nominated for four British Independent Film Awards[39]
2012	Midnight's Children	$1.6 million[40]
2012	Byzantium	$92,544[41]	Production budget: €8 million.
2012	Great Expectations	$920,099[42]
2014	Hyena	$89,526[43]
2015	Carol	$42.7 million[44]	Production budget: $11.8 million. Nominated for nine British Academy Film Awards Nominated for six Academy Awards Nominated for five Golden Globe Awards
2015	Youth	$24 million[45]	Nominated for two Golden Globe Awards Nominated for one Academy Award
2016	The Limehouse Golem	$2.3 million[46]	Released in 2017.
2016	Their Finest	$13.8 million[47]
2017	On Chesil Beach	$3.4 million[48]
2018	Colette	$16 million[49]	Nominated for four British Independent Film Awards Nominated for two Satellite Awards
2021	Mothering Sunday	$2.1 million
2022	Living	$12.1 million	Nominated for nine British Independent Film Awards Nominated for one Golden Globe Award Nominated for three British Academy Film Awards Nominated for four Satellite Awards Nominated for two Academy Awards
2024	The Assessment
2025	A Pale View of Hills

Further reading

• Barraclough, Leo (29 December 2015). Number 9 Films Offices Reflect Producers’ Personality, Filmography. Variety
• Deadline Hollywood (18 May 2015). Carol & Youth Producers Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen Cannes Interview. YouTube
• DShed (26 November 2015). Carol: Producer's Intro and Q&A. Watershed
• Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (14 May 2015). Passion project: meet the indie super-producer behind Cannes hot ticket Carol. The Guardian
• Fitzherbert, Henry (19 May 2013). Box office success in Stephen Woolley's undead end jobs. Daily Express
• HeyUGuys (7 December 2015). 'Carol' Producer Elizabeth Karlsen – BIFAs 2015. YouTube
• Jaafar, Ali (9 October 2009). Married to the movies. Variety (Note: contains founding year error.)
• Jaafar, Ali (2 March 2016). ‘Carol’ Producers Elizabeth Karlsen And Stephen Woolley On Turning Good Taste Into A Business. Deadline Hollywood
• Macnab, Geoffrey (7 July 2011). Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, Number 9 Films. Screen International (Note: contains founding year error.)
• Mitchell, Wendy (11 December 2015). 'Carol': producer Elizabeth Karlsen on her 14-year passion project. Screen International
• O'Donoghue, Caroline (10 February 2016). Was Carol snubbed by the Oscars?. The Pool
• Q&A (10 February 2016). “Strong” women: Why it’s time to redefine the way women are represented on screen – Elizabeth Karlsen, Film Producer and Co-director at Number 9 Films. Womanthology
• Tangcay, Jazz (18 November 2015). Interview – Carol Producer : Elizabeth Karlsen. AwardsDaily
• Utichi, Joe (18 May 2015). ‘Carol’ & ‘Youth’ Producers On “The Expectation Of Showing In Cannes” – Video. Deadline Hollywood