Spending on film production in the UK is at a record high, with the total for Q1 of this year hitting an unprecedented £652m, according to the latest figures released by the British Film Institute (BFI).
Author: Nia Daniels
Published: 04 May 2017
Spending on film production in the UK is at a record high, with the total for Q1 of this year hitting an unprecedented £652m, according to the latest figures released by the British Film Institute (BFI).
A large percentage of this came from inward investment and co-production features, together making up £620m while production on domestic features contributed £32m.
International projects made up exactly half of the 34 features that began shooting in the first three months of this year, demonstrating the massive budgets involved compared to home-grown UK projects, which also saw principal photography begin on 17 features during the same period.
Examples of the big-budget inward investment features which fell into this category include Avengers: Infinity War and Mary Poppins Returns.
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High-end TV production spend also broke records according to the report. Total production spend in the last 12 months, since April 2016, was at an all-time high of £1.9bn, an increase of 27% on the April 2015-March 2016 period.
The first three months of 2017 also saw an unparalleled amount spent on high-end TV drama with 17 projects starting their shoot and totalling £145m. In the case of TV, although domestic production made up more than half of those recorded, the proportion of spending was more even with inward investment drama accounting for 47%.
International productions which began filming in the last few months in the UK include Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams and The Tunnel: Vengeance.
The BFI statistics showed that spend on high-end TV production in general over the past twelve months also hit an unequalled high, registering £830m.
The UK expanded its tax relief scheme to include high-end TV drama in April 2013, a move which is widely credited with contributing to its appeal as an international production hub. The UK also hosts a variety of regional funding bodies, such as Screen Yorkshire which administers the Yorkshire Content Fund.
For more on filming in the UK, head over to our production guide.
Avengers photo courtesy of Disney/Marvel Studios.
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