Number 9 Films was co-founded in 2002 by internationally award-winning producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley and has established itself as one of the UK’s leading independent production companies. In 2019, Karlsen and Woolley jointly received the highly prestigious and coveted BAFTA Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema.

Karlsen and Woolley have produced some of the most celebrated independent films in the US and Europe including: CAROL (nominated for 6 Academy Awards®, 6 Golden Globe Awards and 9 BAFTA Awards), YOUTH (nominated for 1 Academy Award® and winner of 3 European Film Awards), THE END OF THE AFFAIR, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore (nominated for 2 Academy Awards®, 4 Golden Globe Awards, and 10 BAFTA Awards), INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt (nominated for 2 Academy Awards®, 2 Golden Globe Awards and 4 BAFTA Awards), LITTLE VOICE (winner of a Golden Globe Award, nominated for 1 Academy Award®, 6 Golden Globe Awards and 6 BAFTA Awards), MONA LISA, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson (nominated for 1 Academy Award®, winner of a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award), THE CRYING GAME (winner of an Academy Award®, a BAFTA Award, a PGA Award and nominated for 6 Academy Awards®), MADE IN DAGENHAM (nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards) and MRS HARRIS (nominated for 12 Emmy® Awards, 3 Golden Globe Awards and a PGA Award). Other work includes GREAT EXPECTATIONS, written by David Nicholls and directed by Mike Newell, and BYZANTIUM directed by Neil Jordan.

In 2005, Woolley made his directorial debut with the acclaimed sixties biopic STONED, the story of Brian Jones, who founded the Rolling Stones, which starred Leo Gregory, Paddy Considine, Tuva Novotny and Ben Whishaw. In addition to film work, MADE IN DAGENHAM: THE MUSICAL opened in London’s West End in 2014 starring Gemma Arterton.

Recent releases include THEIR FINEST, directed by Lone Scherfig and starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy, nominated for 2 BIFAS; THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM, starring Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke and Douglas Booth, and directed by Juan Carlos Medina; the adaptation of Ian McEwan’s best-selling Booker Prize short-listed novel ON CHESIL BEACH, directed by Dominic Cooke and starring two-time Academy Award nominee, Saoirse Ronan; and COLETTE, the story of famous French author Sidonie Gabrielle Colette who must escape her husband’s control to claim her voice as an artist, directed by Wash Westmoreland and starring two-time Academy Award nominee, Keira Knightley, and Dominic West. COLETTE premiered at the Sundance Film Festival garnering excellent reviews and was nominated for 4 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) and an Independent Spirit Award.