Film Edinburgh reports rise in filming
Film Edinburgh has reported a marked rise in productions throughout the area, which also comprises East Lothian and the Scottish Borders. 361 projects were completed in 2014, which indicates a 6% rise on the previous year. Plus there was an 8% rise in the amount of production enquiries, making a total of 542 enquiries across film and TV.
Big-budget productions that were filmed in 2014 the Berger Larsen-led BBC drama Murder, which filmed in Edinburgh for four months and Outlander, which booked 19 days of filming. Popular factual show Come Dine With Me also filmed in the region. The economic impact of this recent upturn has the increased the area's monetary intake from production to £4.6m, a dramatic 53% increase on 2013.
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The Scottish Independence Referendum in September also proved to be an opportune moment to showcase Edinburgh to the international marketplace. The 'This is Edinburgh' Media Centre hosted over 400 journalists from 43 countries, and had in excess of 150 live television broadcasts as well as print, digital and radio coverage leading up to the vote.
To improve matters further a brand new film studio has been planned for just outside Edinburgh. The £125m project is set to include a combined studio, back lot and hotel, all on site at Straiton.
There has been a public outcry in recent years from industry professionals wanting a studio in Scotland, amidst previous claims that Game of Thrones producers publically confessed to preferring Northern Ireland as the main production location over Scotland. At the time, Equity's Drew McFarlane told MSPs: "Game of Thrones was looking to come to Scotland and it didn't come here, because we don't have a body pushing hard enough."
Developers Pentland Studios hopes to begin construction on Scotland's first purpose built film studio in October or November this year, subject to planning permission being secured from Midlothian Council.
Rosie Ellison, film manager for Film Edinburgh, said: "It goes without saying that if this comes to fruition it will have a significant impact, increasing the number of large-scale, high-value productions that can base here, bringing employment and investment to the area."
A boost in infrastructure with their new studio and a monumental 2014 should lead to a fruitful future for Scotland's film and TV industry.
To find out which other productions are shooting in Scotland and the Edinburgh region, check out Production Intelligence, our online database containing over 5000 productions in the UK.
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