Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
Inward investment by film and high-end TV (HETV) productions to Scotland doubled between 2019-2021, according to figures published by Screen Scotland today.
This is three times the 39% growth rate experienced by the UK as a whole, according to BFI statistics.
Scotland’s screen sector GVA (gross value added) rose by 9.7% in the period – well ahead of the 1.2% increase in nominal GVA posted by Scotland’s overall economy during that period.
Inward investment film spend in Scotland increased by 110%, from PS165.3 million in 2019 to PS347.4 million in 2021. In 2021, an estimated PS617.4million was spent in Scotland on the production of films, TV, and other audiovisual contents, compared with PS398.6million in 2019, up by 55%. Studio growth enabled inward film and HETV production spend to increase by 110% while overall production spend in Scotland grew by 55%, including content made by Scotland-based producers
Special research commissioned by Screen Scotland and produced by Saffery Champness and Nordicity into the economic value of the screen sector in Scotland was unveiled this week at FirstStage Studios in Leith. The facility opened in 2020 and is presently housing the second series of Amazon’s The Rig, unaffected by the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
Isabel Davis, Screen Scotland’s executive director, told Screen, the outlook for the Scottish screen sector is positive. She said that the outlook for the Scottish screen sector is positive. “We have an array of incoming productions. What has served Scotland really well is a mix of scripted and unscripted, locally originated, incoming production and so on.” What has served Scotland really well is to have a mix of scripted and unscripted, locally originated, incoming production and so on.”[of the UK]She added that having “a big streamer” such as Amazon come in to shoot a full series and not just to do location work “has spawned an awful lot of confidence elsewhere in the business.”
This is the second economic impact report Screen Scotland has commissioned following one in 2019. This is the second economic impact report Screen Scotland has commissioned following one in 2019. If you look at UK stats, there is only one number. We didn’t see ourselves reflected in the bigger stats and so had no way of measuring growth.”
Scotland has been benefiting from the activity at studios including FirstStage, Wardpark in Cumbernauld, the home of
Outlander
(for Starz, Sony Pictures Television and Left Bank Pictures) and other facilities such as The Pyramids in Bathgate (where season two of Amazon’s Good Omens recently shot), Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall, the recently opened Nightsky Studios in Coatbridge and Studio Alba on the Isle of Lewis. “It was fair to say that the growth was there to be had but you can see very clearly the impact of building new film studios in that number,” Davis said. “We are very conscious of having a variety of different sizes of facility so they’re in competition – but they’re actually creating a very symbiotic ecosystem.” Crew who are Scottish or want to live in Scotland now know they can live in Scotland because of the impact has had on the production pipeline.”
Additionally, Scottish studios do not face the same daunting challenges over very fast-rising business rates as their English and Welsh counterparts.[the increase in studio facilities]Screen Scotland aims to publish research reports into the health of the sector every two years.
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Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
