Universal, Working Title ink 7-year pact

LONDON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Working Title productions officers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, based in London, reached a seven-year contract with California-based Universal Studio.

While no major changes at Working Title are planned, Fellner said he'd like to expand the company's production slate to around five movies year, up from two recently, Variety.com said.

"Nothing is different other than we're hungry to make five films a year and they're hungry for us to do that," he said.

Universal has owned Working Title since 1999; Bevan and Fellner have been with the company since 1993. Among the company's 2006 titles were "United 93" and "Catch a Fire."

Fellner and Bevan both said that their relationships with Universal executives, including president Ron Meyer, was key in renewing their contract.

"The truth of it is we have an excellent working relationship with Universal," Bevan told Variety.com. "Universal understands that we fish in a different pond. But in our experience, that's a difficult thing for Hollywood to do. We've been lucky enough to make enough money for Universal to allow us to continue."