£71m film boost for Glasgow
Filmmakers praise their warm welcome from city as productions boost economy
A RECORD £71million has been generated through Glasgow’s film industry in just five years.
The work of the Glasgow Film Office has been praised and the city has now been the location for a steady stream of top dramas and movies.
Piers Tempest, who produced The Wife and Churchill, said: “Glasgow is a fantastically diverse city to film in.”
GLASGOW Film Office has been hailed after generating £71million for the city in just five years.
Industry producers have praised the work being done to build Glasgow’s reputation as a film-friendly city.
Trainspotting 2, World War Z, Churchill and the recently released The Wife have all been filmed in the city in recent years, as well as TV series’ like Outlander, Shetland and new BBC thriller The Cry.
Since its creation in 1997, the GFO has generated around £300m, including £15.1m last year.
Piers Tempest, who produced The Wife and Churchill, said: “Glasgow is a fantastically diverse city to film in.
“Our experience from filming both The Wife and Churchill in Glasgow was excellent, and the support from (film commissioner) Jennifer (Reynolds) and the GFO was extremely helpful and echoed the welcome that the city gave us.”
David Brown, a producer on hit show Outlander, added: “The principle reason for coming to Glasgow is the welcome that the city gives to filmmakers.
“We are overwhelmed by the support and encouragement we have received from everyone in the city.”
The GFO is the film commissioner for Glasgow and is responsible for setting producers up with appropriate agencies, location owners and council departments.
It has supported a host of award-winning British films from directors such as Glasgow-born Peter Mullan, Ken Loach, Lynne Ramsay and Andrea Arnold.
A new report into the organisation will go in front of city councillors tomorrow.
It shows that the number of inquiries from TV and film production companies dropped from 292 in 2016 to 266 last year. But the number of productions rose from 164 to 165.
Despite that increase, the money generated dropped from £16.3m to £15.1m.
But Glasgow held its own
‘‘ We are overwhelmed by the support and encouragement we have received from everyone in the city
against other major film cities in the UK. Last year, Edinburgh generated £16.1m directly from film and TV production in the city, with Liverpool raking in £11.1m and Bristol making £18.3m.
In the report, Richard Brown, the city’s executive director of regeneration and the economy, blamed the fluctuations on a “cyclical downturn” in the number of large scale TV dramas being commissioned for production in Scotland.
He also pointed to production crews engaging directly with council staff for filming permission, rather than going through the GFO.
Mr Brown said: “Both Liverpool and Edinburgh reported 2017 as their most successful year ever but if we look at the figures in greater depth, Liverpool’s local spend is lower than Glasgow’s regular annual total and Edinburgh’s figure for 2017 is mostly derived from hosting one large scale Hollywood production.
“Bristol’s figure demonstrates the economic benefit of hosting a returning high value drama series such as Poldark or Sherlock.
“Glasgow currently does not host a returning drama series – the returning US series Outlander is based in a studio facility in Cumbernauld and while it uses Glasgow crew, facilities and some locations, the local spend derived from it cannot be quantified fully by GFO.
“The GFO has utilised
every opportunity to build upon Glasgow’s ‘film-friendly’ reputation and the city continues to perform well in securing large scale film and television production in a very competitive market.
“The achievement of GFO’s objectives relies on the continuing support and cooperation of Glasgow City Council departments, ALEOs, and city partners.
“This will ensure that GFO can focus on providing a firstclass production liaison service and targeted marketing of Glasgow as a fully serviced filming centre of excellence.”
Greg Hepburn, chairman of the neighbourhoods, housing and public realm committee, added: “Glasgow has become a natural home for film and broadcast productions of all sizes in recent years, and this status is in no small way due to the efforts of the council’s Glasgow Film Office.
“It is fantastic to see major film and television productions continuing to come to the city, bringing millions of pounds into the local economy, and boosting the profile of Glasgow not only in the industry but to national and international audiences.
“We can look forward to more major productions coming to Glasgow.”