Record film production spend in UK
Statistics published by the BFI today show that the total UK spend for film in the first nine months of this year was a record-breaking £1.8bn, with the vast majority of this coming from overseas projects.
Of the total spend, a whopping £1.6bn came from inward investment features, which was up on the same period last year (£1.1bn) with £175m spent on domestic film projects.
Another record was broken in the number of films beginning principal photography in Q1-Q3. At 160, this is the lowest since analysis began, although this could be revised upwards as in previous years, as more information becomes available.
Of the 160, 92 were domestic films such as Johnny English 3. Inward investments projects which set up UK shoots in Q3 included Aladdin and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
Co-production features - such as The Little Stranger - were also on the wane, continuing a downward trend since 2013.
Production spend on high-end domestic TV programmes that began principal photography in Q1-Q3 totalled £228.7m, with inward investment and co-production projects contributing £287.6m.
This total of £516m represents 62 high-end TV projects setting up in the UK in the first nine months of this year, of which 33 were domestic programmes.
Fourteen animation programmes began production over the same period, spending £45m, of which £33m was domestic.
Image: Jonathan Prime/Universal Pictures
Stats graph: BFI
Also on The Knowledge
Studios Spotlight – OMA V Film Studios
The latest in our Studios Spotlight is OMA V, due to be fully open at the end of this month in Radlett, Hertfordshire. We speak to Location Collective MD Becky Butler about the new 100,000 sq ft, three-stage facility, the company’s studio portfolio and the plans for the future.
Final series of Vera begins filming
Filming has begun on Series 14 of Silverprint Pictures’ crime drama Vera, as ITV confirmed it will be the final run.
Climate Spring’s development lab returns
Climate Spring’s The Hot House development lab is returning, with screenwriters encouraged to craft “stories of the climate transition.”
Sustainability system launches with new Sky comedy
With sustainability at the top of the agenda for production, managing the eco credentials of your film or TV project is becoming more important every day.
Emma Thompson, Ruth Wilson to star in Mick Herron drama for Apple TV+
Ruth Wilson and Emma Thompson will star in Down Cemetery Road, based on the book by Slow Horses author Mick Herron, for Apple TV+.
Studios Spotlight – Behind the scenes at The Bottle Yard Studios
The latest spotlight in our Studios series shines on Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios, the largest film and TV studio in the west of England.