Working Title: Natascha Wharton

By VARIETY STAFF

Having joined Working Title 13 years ago as Eric Fellner's assistant, Wharton went on to become a development exec and eventually headed the outfit's low-budget division WT2, overseeing offbeat zombie comedy "Shaun of the Dead" and Stephen Daldry's feel-good hit "Billy Elliot."

About a year ago, the WT2 department was folded into the main Working Title infrastructure, but it continues to exist as a label. Wharton has recently returned from maternity leave to run bigger-budget projects, working closely with Debra Hayward.

"The new shape of the department is only just starting to emerge," says Wharton, who together with Hayward has three development execs working on the team. Wharton continues to see projects through from the initial stage of sourcing or commissioning a script, right through to production and post-production.

She is currently in post with the laffer "Hot Fuzz."

Age: 41

Home: North London

Fave Working Title movie: "I'm proud of all the films I've been involved in, even the ones that didn't work, because you learn from them. But I'll always be very fond of 'Billy Elliot' and deeply proud of my assistant credit on 'Four Weddings....' "

Downtime: "Taking my son to swimming classes."

Least favorite thing about the biz: "How long have you got?"