25 years of Filming brings over £65m to Edinburgh city region

Scotland’s oldest film office, Film Edinburgh celebrates 25 years as a regional film office this month. Since its conception, it has dealt with over 8,000 enquires, converting into more than 4,000 productions filming in the city region. The total economic impact for the city is estimated to be worth in excess of £65million.

Founded in late April 1990 as The Edinburgh and Lothian Screen Industries Office, it was the second film office to open in the UK after only Liverpool, which was set up to support the filming of Channel 4’s soap, Brookside.

Film Edinburgh is the first port of call for filmmakers on the hunt for locations, responding to filmmaker enquiries from all over the world with images of and information about locations in Edinburgh, Lothians and the Scottish Borders.

George Carlaw, the founder of The Edinburgh and Lothian Screen Industries Office, said:
“Some enlightened people at the City and Regional Councils in 1990 saw the possibilities in film and television production and committed to an initial three year project. The twin aims were to develop the local production industry and to draw in location spend. Now we concentrate on the latter, which brings immediate economic benefits and helps the latter.”

Back in 1990, Edinburgh’s film office dealt with 100 enquiries and worked with 50 productions. This has grown to 550 enquiries and 360 productions in 2014, bringing £5 million of economic benefit to the city region last year. Filming highlights over the years include: Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, Mrs Brown, The Da Vinci Code, MTV European Music Awards, One Day, Cloud Atlas, Under The Skin, Case Histories and Sunshine on Leith.

Rosie Ellison, Film Manager at Film Edinburgh, said:
“The industry has come a long way since the days of having to post location images and information LA filmmakers. Email and the internet have transformed how we work, allowing instant response to filmmaker enquires and ensuring the city region is in the mix from the word go.

“With over 25% of Scotland’s production workforce based in and around the city, Film Edinburgh has a long standing, mutually beneficial relationship with the majority of them. I’d like to thank all our supporters from the past 25 years and look forward to many new productions that will be made here in the years to come.”

John Donnelly, Chief Executive of Marketing Edinburgh, said:
“Congratulations to Rosie and all of the team who have worked in Film Edinburgh over the last 25 years. We know from Visit Britain’s research that 40% of visitors choose to come to visit a destination after seeing it on screen. The success of films such as The Railway Man, Da Vinci Code, Filth and Sunshine on Leith, have meant images of our beautiful city have been seen by millions. As an advertising campaign to promote our city it has been priceless.”