A 60th anniversary episode of Doctor Who, true crime drama The Sixth Commandment and comedy drama Rain Dogs were among the TV series and films made in Bristol which helped to generate more than £20m for the local economy last year. Bristol Film Office show filmmaking levels in the city had ‘held strong’ over the previous 12 months, with its latest figures showing 220 recorded productions bringing in £20.1m of inward investment.
It comes after a post-pandemic surge in filmmaking in Bristol was valued at £20.8m during the 2021-22 financial year – the largest contribution the sector had made in a decade.
A total of 838 filming days took place at the Bristol City Council-owned Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove and/or on location around the city assisted by Bristol Film Office. This was down from the 1,067 filming days carried out in previous year.
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The number of licences issued by Bristol Film Office, permitting filming to take place on council-owned streets, properties and green spaces, was 502 – also down on the previous period, when 709 were granted.
Other major titles filmed around Bristol during 2022-23 were season four of Netflix show Sex Education, starring Gillian Anderson, which was filmed at University of Bristol campus locations, while the upcoming 80’s Jilly Cooper drama Rivals – which stars David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Alexander Hassall and Danny Dyer – was made at Bottle Yard Studios.
Senior film manager at Bristol City Council Laura Aviles, who oversees Bristol Film Office and The Bottle Yard Studios, said Bristol was ‘maintaining its competitive edge as a leading UK filming city’.
The figures come as Bristol Film Office marked its 20th anniversary, having been founded by the council in 2003 to attract business opportunities within the moving image industry into the city.
Over the past 20 years Bristol Film Office and Bottle Yard Studios have assisted TV and film production worth an estimated £322m to Bristol’s economy, while more than £2.1m has been generated for Bristol City Council through filming permits and charges.
Ms Aviles said: “Not only has Bristol Film Office facilitated filming worth more than £320m to Bristol over two decades, it also played a central role to Bristol gaining UNESCO City of Film status in 2017. It rose to the challenge of supporting safe filming on the streets during the pandemic and has worked over and above to accommodate the higher numbers of crews we’ve welcomed into the city ever since.
“Its work is vital in attracting productions to Bristol, to spend money in our economy and create work for local crew, companies and facilities. I’m hugely proud of all that Bristol Film Office has achieved so far, and the team’s ongoing drive to grow Bristol’s profile even further, as the best UK filming city outside London.”
The economic impact figures are calculated using national average production spend figures compiled by Creative England with contribution from all national Film Offices’ data.
Deputy mayor of Bristol Craig Cheney said: “The latest annual figures demonstrate the continued value of the film and TV industry for our city, and the ongoing success of our filming facilitation services. We were proud to secure £12m for TBY2’s expansion, strengthening our solar-powered Hollywood in Hengrove, delivering 1,000 new jobs by 2032.”
Around 100 people attended Bristol Film Office’s 20th Anniversary event at MShed Wednesday (October 4). Guests included local crew, representatives from production companies such as Sid Gentle, Mammoth Screen and Eleventh Hour, as well as venues that frequently host filming, including University of Bristol, UWE Bristol, Arnos Vale Cemetery and Clifton Suspension Bridge.
