US production execs on fam trip to northern England

A group of six US film and TV production executives have spent a week on a fam trip around the north of England.

Representatives from Broad Green Pictures, Dynamic Television, Gaumont Television, HBO Films, Media Rights Capital and Universal Cable Productions were shown studios, facilties and locations across a wide area of the north, including Greater Manchester, Yorkshire and Merseyside, home to productions such as Houdini & Doyle, Peaky Blinders and Harry Potter.

The trip was hosted by the British Film Commission and UK Trade & Investment’s Northern Powerhouse Fund in association with Creative England and with local support from Screen Yorkshire and the Liverpool Film Office, in a bid to further encourage inward investment to the region.

Chancellor George Osborne said: “The north of England is an iconic backdrop to some great films and TV shows.

“Already the Northern Powerhouse film and TV industry is a magnet for global investment, and this week’s initiative is a real opportunity to showcase our home-grown talent to companies around the world.

“We are committed to backing this success story which is why we introduced highly competitive tax reliefs, which in the last year alone supported over £1bn in direct investment into the UK.”

Inward investment in UK film production is in a healthy state – helped in no small part by the attractive tax relief on offer – with figures from the BFI’s Research and Statistics Unit published in January this year showing a 2015 spend of over £1bn for the second year running, while inward investment spend on high-end TV drama was up 20% on the previous year.