Situated on a building site with views over Tube lines, estates and warehouses, the new West London headquarters of Paramount Pictures International are a far cry from the glamour of Hollywood.

The modest surroundings may be uncharacteristic of a media concern of Paramount’s calibre, but they have not impeded the reinvigoration of the international business under the overall leadership of group chief executive, Brad Grey. The division was responsible for more than half of the box office takings of Hollywood’s oldest studio last year, producing films that earned $1.6 billion (£804 million).

The task of finding growth opportunities in emerging markets, both in distribution and production, falls to Andrew Cripps, the head of Paramount’s international arm. He must achieve this as cinema ticket sales in the West plateau but increase in markets as far flung as Russia and Vietnam.

Co-production, something Paramount had not done for a long time, has a new importance. Mr Cripps says the group has been actively seeking film-makers. It has already made films in France and the UK, including Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, written and directed by Bend it Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha, which will be released this year.

Other countries at the forefront of his agenda include Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil and there are plans for productions in Asia and Eastern Europe. “A Bollywood co-production is unlikely to cost more than a couple of million dollars to make but these can generate millions,” says Mr Cripps. “We also see opportunities in countries like China.”

Before the arrival of Mr Grey, Paramount produced and distributed films in the United States under the assumption that they would also prove a success internationally. Often comedies would not translate and American stars would not be known in international markets. On the other hand, films that had mediocre success in America often proved big hits internationally. Stardustis a prime example: it had box office takings of $96 million internationally but only $38 million in the US market.

Paramount’s new strategy has provided a much-needed security blanket for stars such as Brad Pitt, whose international audiences are significant and who want to know that the studios can successfully manage their projects abroad.

“Under Mr Grey’s leadership, I’m involved in the decision-making process and, if I don’t think a film will work in the international market, it won’t be brought over,” says Mr Cripps. “I’m part of the Greenlight Committee, which meets every two weeks, and I get sent scripts and then participate by phone.”

Part of Paramount’s recent success can also be attributed to the division last January of the worldwide distributor United International Pictures (UIP) into Universal and Paramount, giving the producer an own-brand distributor for the first time in 35 years.

“UIP restricted growth as there was too much product flowing through the pipeline, making international expansion very difficult. We couldn’t develop early ties with local film-makers,” says Mr Cripps, formerly president and chief operating officer of UIP.

While the UIP structure has remained in place in 19 territories, including Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and SouthEast Asia, Paramount is going it alone in other areas. On January 1 it opened Paramount Pictures Japan, a Spanish office will open on July 1 and Germany will follow in 2009. “We are going through Universal in Russia and we need to evaluate whether it will be beneficial to open up an office. Russia has gone from being our 25th biggest territory to the top ten,” says Mr Cripps, who oversees 310 people internationally.

The new-look Paramount also owes a lot of its success to the acquisition of the DreamWorks studio in December 2005, a move that is paying handsome dividends – films such as Shrek and Transformers made Paramount the biggest studio by box office takings in the UK last year and boosted it from fifth to first place in the US.

The positive outlook for this year promises to continue that success, with major releases to include Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Marvel Comics’s Iron Man.

However, there are concerns that the studio’s first real growth since the release of Titanic in 1997 could be stymied if the writers’ strike in Hollywood continues much longer. The future of the potentially lucrative Transformers 2 hangs in the balance as its writer, Alex Kurtzman, who also penned Star Trek, has been one of the more outspoken in the dispute.

Then there is the continuing threat from piracy, which Mr Cripps is desperately trying to control through simultaneous release dates in the US and internationally.

Despite ticket sales remaining flat in the West, with growth coming only from price increases, Mr Cripps is convinced that the cinema-going experience is about to undergo its “biggest transformation since colour and sound” as 3-D digital cinemas become increasingly widespread.

“There will be no more flimsy cardboard glasses,” he says. “Cinema-going is set to be transformed into a high-tech experience and we will be watching the biggest blockbusters in 3-D.”

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive