London At Heart Of UK Film Production

London is once again at the heart of the UK's film production success, according to new data released by the British Film Institute (BFI) that shows total economic contribution across the country for 2014 to the tune of £1.5bn.

£1.5bn was spent on film production across the UK, with about 75% of the industry based in and around London. Roughly £1bn of feature film spend was invested in the capital.

The Television Tax relief – in place since 2013 – also attracted a number of big budget productions to London. TV production spend across the UK reached £615m in 2014, a "significant percentage" of which was spent in the capital.

Titles included Paddington, television hit 24: Live Another Day, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, as well as Oscar-nominated The Theory Of Everything and The Imitation Game.

London also serves as a stand-in for the Arctic Circle in major new crime series Fortitude, currently airing on Sky Atlantic. Other shows filmed in London in 2014 include Downton Abbey and The Royals.

London took centre stage in spy comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service and epic space opera Jupiter Ascending, which uses the Natural History Museum.

Studios just outside the capital have hosted the next installment of the Star Wars saga, along with some big budget childhood story adaptations including Pan, Tarzan and Cinderella.

"Today's record breaking figures show our production industries are thriving and London is at the very heart of that success," says David Parfitt, Chairman of Film London. "The city's status as a global production hub sees it acting as gateway to the rest of the UK, delivering for the economy and creating thousands of jobs."

www.filmlondon.org.uk

(IT/JP)