Yorkshire Film Office Celebrates Bumper First Year!

Tuesday 4th February 2020

Industry Extols Value of Region-Wide Service
Screen Yorkshire’s Film Office today reveals the impact that its Film Office has had on the region’s production landscape since it opened for business in November 2018. In its first year of operation, the Film Office team has handled over 360 film and TV production enquiries and has received wide praise from key industry figures.

As the first port of call for producers looking to film in Yorkshire, and needing specialist advice and help, the Film Office supports international, domestic and regional productions. Its work spans feature film, high-end TV drama and childrens’ content as well as factual, entertainment, comedy, corporate and advertising campaigns.

Victoria at 'Flamborough Head @Mammoth Screen for ITV

Feature film & HETV filming statistics

27 high-end TV productions and 14 feature films have filmed in Yorkshire in the last 12 months, generating over 1500 days of work for regional crew. The value of filming activity to Yorkshire and the Humber is substantial with budgets for high-end TV dramas and feature films averaging between £10m and £20m per project. The regional figures are released following last week’s news from the BFI, revealing a record-breaking year for film & HE TV, which is the fastest growing sector in the UK.

Just do the maths and you’ll understand the scale of the business and the economic clout that comes with it. The Film Office is a critical, expert, component in driving this business to Yorkshire and in its first year alone has demonstrated just how valuable a resource it is

Sally Joynson, Chief Executive

Ava (Claire Rushbrook) Ali (Adeel Akhtar) in ALI & AVA. Image: Dean Rogers for Avali Film Ltd

All Creatures Great and Small @ Playground Television for Channel 5 / Screen Yorkshire

Local knowledge and experience was vital when we were making decisions about where to base ourselves and who we might consider to be part of the team.

Noëlette Buckley, Head of Production, All Creatures Great and Small (Playground Television UK)

High-End TV dramas that have filmed in the region with the support of Screen Yorkshire’s Film Office include; Gentleman Jack (BBC), Zero Chill (Netflix), All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5) and The English Game (Netflix).

Feature films supported by the Film Office in its first year include box office hits Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Downton Abbey and highly anticipated cinematic releases Military Wives, Ali and Ava and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

It has been nearly a decade since Yorkshire has had its own dedicated Film Office and the move to reopen the facility, championed by Screen Yorkshire, has been welcomed by the industry who see it as ‘an invaluable resource’, which ‘understands the needs of a production from the inside and works actively to offer practical advice and support’.

Screen Yorkshire’s talented bunch are a brilliant mix of local knowledge, passion for the job and intense creativity. We simply couldn’t have made the show in Yorkshire without them.

Phil Collinson, producer on 'Gentleman Jack'

Yorkshire is home. Like its people, Yorkshire is robust, straightforward, rugged, diverse, and downright bloody gorgeous. Everyone should film here.

Jonathan Butterell – Director, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

This has been an extremely successful first year, but there’s absolutely no room for complacency. We need to grow our market share & the Film Office target for 2020-2021 is to achieve a further 10% growth, especially in high-end TV production. The local indie sector is thriving, producing over 300 hours of television in the last 12 months alone. City centre studios open in Leeds later this year & with Channel 4’s arrival & new commissions coming in, the outlook is very promising.

Chris Hordley, Production Liaison and Development Manager, Screen Yorkshire