UK Tax Relief! Camera! Action!

The UK Government’s financial support for the film and television industry is proving a major boost to the number of productions being shot in Scotland, the Secretary of State for Scotland said today.

Two projects are currently filming on location in Edinburgh and taking advantage of the measures announced by the Chancellor in August.

An adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent and One Of Us, a contemporary crime drama by Harry and Jack Williams, the writers behind the hugely successful drama, The Missing, both benefitted from tax relief for the industry. The two BBC productions, complete their filming schedule in Edinburgh this week, having banked over 100 days of location shooting around the city during October and November.

The UK Government measures means qualifying projects can claim back 25% on their production costs through a tax credit, allowing that money to be re-invested. The UK’s film industry is estimated to be worth around £1.4 billion.

Film or TV projects have to pass a number of tests to qualify, including a threshold on the proportion of production taking place in the UK and must be intended for theatrical release or broadcast. The UK Government also provides tax relief for video games and theatre productions.

Rosie Ellison, Film Manager for Film Edinburgh said:
“2015 has so far been a bumper year for filming in the Edinburgh region, with location shoots and filming enquires up on the same period last year. It’s early days for the new high end tv tax relief, but the initial signs are extremely promising.

“Edinburgh is an incredibly film friendly city and Film Edinburgh works hard with our partners, City of Edinburgh Council and local film talent, to ensure filming is efficient and pain-free for production teams. The added incentive of the tax relief further strengthens our city’s location appeal to UK and international productions companies and I’m excited to see how this will further develop in 2016.”

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said:
“The UK’s support for our creative industries is helping production companies as they invest in new films and tv drama. It is great to see Edinburgh being used as a location for these projects. The Government’s tax relief scheme has already supported over 200 films with £8 billion production expenditure. It is good for the sector and proving excellent for Scotland.”