FEATURE | PRODUCT ION BOOM
In a time of seismic change, today’s figures prove that film and television are thriving and are a vital creative industry
as Leeds East Airport but now, with its three huge hangars, is to be a fully fledged film and television studio with 100,000 sq ft of production space. In fact, the last series of ITV’s Victoria was made there – Stage 1 and 2 were transformed into the interiors of Buckingham Palace for that series. In Ashford, Kent, there is to be a development of the 15-acre Newton locomotive works, built in 1847 and shut in the early eighties. The plan is for four 20,000 sq ft stages, in addition to a hotel and film training academy. Steven Knight, writer of the Peaky Blinders series, is in advanced talks with Birmingham council to develop Mercia Studios. The cost mentioned is around £100 million, with huge production spaces
million, up 17% from £253 million from 2017. Of the 119 high-end TV titles, 55 were domestic UK productions with a spend of £378 million, a 19% increase from the previous year. These figures unsurprisingly caught the government’s eye, with Margot James, digital and creative industries minister at the time, saying, “These statistics confirm yet again that the UK is truly a global powerhouse for the screen industries.” Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, said: “In a time of seismic change, today’s figures prove that film and television are thriving, a vital creative industry that is outstripping other sectors.” TRANSFORMING THE REGIONS Nevill went on to tell us that the benefits were being felt UK-wide, with production expanding nationwide and in the regions. How right she was – and a year later is proved to be even more so than at the time. One of the most interesting aspects of the growth of UK production is that it is partnering an increase in industrial regeneration. There are currently around 20 site regeneration projects happening around the UK, to make room for large film and television complexes. Locations include the old RAF base of Church Fenton, which is just outside Leeds. The base was active through WWII and up until recently was a base for the Air Training Corps. From 2015, it was known
planned. (See more development projects on pages 48 and 49.) THE TAX RELIEF The BFI has also broken down how the government’s tax relief has impacted the industry (analysis from 2016 and before). For instance, expenditure on feature film production in the UK has doubled in nine years since the film tax relief was introduced, from £849 million in 2007 to a record-breaking £1.72 billion in 2016. High- end television production has also boomed since the introduction of the high-end tax relief in 2013, with expenditure more than doubling over the ensuing three years, from £414.9 million to £896.7 million. The video games tax relief that came into effect in 2014 has supported £389.9 million
IMAGES Sex Education 2, another Brit-based Netflix hit, is filmed in Wales
44 DEF I N I T ION | JANUARY 2020
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