Film office for Edinburgh, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders
Film office for Edinburgh, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders
2015 record breaking £6.9m from filming in Edinburgh city region
Film Edinburgh reports a record-breaking year with an incredible £6.9m generated by film production in the Edinburgh city region, a 47% rise on 2014 figures.
The highest economic impact return in the organisation’s 25 year history, this was a direct result of two large-scale, high-value TV drama productions One Of Us and The Secret Agent (both BBC productions), and feature film Tommy’s Honour, each basing their entire production schedules in Edinburgh.
353 productions completed in 2015, marginally down (3%) on last year’s figures, however conversion rates from filming enquires to completed productions, also increased by 3% on 2014’s figures. Other high-value feature films and TV productions to film on location in the region this year included Whisky Galore!, The BFG, The Correspondence and the second series of Outlander.
Outlander (series 1) at Preston Mill National Trust for Scotland
Rosie Ellison, Film Manager for Film Edinburgh said:
“2015 has been a record breaking year for filming production in the Edinburgh region. A combination of the right locations, 25% of Scotland crew base, tax credit benefits and hard work to facilitate and attract productions, has all helped strengthen Edinburgh’s reputation as a film friendly city.
“Crucially, the results reaffirm the hugely compelling case in favour of a film studio in the city region. High value drama productions made up only 4% of the total number of productions filming here, but their overall economic impact in 2015 was £5.4m. A film studio would provide the much needed facilities for companies to base their entire production (offices, build space etc) in the region, not simply their location shoots. The benefits would be immediate and far-reaching.”
Cllr Frank Ross, Convener of the Economy Committee, said:
‘This year’s figures are testament to the hard work of Film Edinburgh’s staff along with film makers increasingly realising the versatility of Edinburgh as a location for film production. It has been well documented that filming has a positive impact on tourism as visitors enjoy visiting the locations they have viewed on screen so this increased activity is great news for the city. It also further strengthens the case for a film studio in Midlothian for the benefit of the City Region and Scotland.’