All 'action' in East Lothian

Cockenzie and Port Seton hosted a BBC crew filming a drama series called ‘Clique’; The Museum of Flight at East Fortune was the scene for The Wife, starring Glenn Close, Christian Slater, Jonathan Pryce and Frances McDormand and Gosford House was once again the setting for a Ganten Water advert – the third in a series of ads the company has filmed there.

Thanks to a Film Charter, an agreement between East Lothian Council and Film Edinburgh to ensure that all council departments work together to accommodate filming requests wherever possible, East Lothian’s role as a location has grown massively in the last few years. We’ve attracted huge productions like The Railway Man, starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, and Steven Spielberg’s The BFG as well as numerous high profile TV series including Outlander.

Gabriel Silver, Producer of Clique, said, “The ease of working with the council and Film Edinburgh has been really obvious to us as we only decided just over a week ago to film here. The speed of setting up sites for our unit bases at Meadowmill and the Legion at Cockenzie, as well as temporary road closures and access to the promenade and playparks, has been fantastically helpful; especially when you consider that we were initially going to send a splinter crew here but decided fairly last minute to send a full unit. Cockenzie and Port Seton was perfect for us as we needed a location for our Edinburgh-based characters’ childhood home. This is very much a working village and harbour so we’ve had to do no set-dressing at all. It’s very traditional and unspoilt without being too ‘chocolate box’ so it was ideal for us really.

The other advantage for us, having been filming in Edinburgh for a few weeks now, has been the ease of travel between our sites. Compared to sometimes taking half an hour in the city to get from one spot to another, having everything close by and accessible here in East Lothian has been a great advantage.”

Rosie Ellison of Film Edinburgh said, “East Lothian is an essential part of the mix that helps us attract filmmakers to the Edinburgh city region. When we talk to filmmakers about East Lothian locations, we can be confident that these will be backed up by a high level of support from the community and Council.”

Councillor John McMillan, East Lothian Council spokesperson for Economic Development and Tourism said, “East Lothian as a film location is just a huge bonus for us. Not only does it give local businesses a boost when film crews are here but it can have a significantly positive impact for us in tourism terms when people see East Lothian on the big screen.

The Film Charter and our partnership with Film Edinburgh have really made a difference in attracting crews here and I’m sure we’ll get more and more requests in future years and our council officers will work together to accommodate film crews to make sure their production needs are met.”

This press release originally appeared on the East Lothian Council website.