Northern Film & Media Sign Charter With Newcastle City Council

Following the successful filming and premiere of 'Atonement', more film and TV production could be brought to the North East with the signing of a new charter between Northern Film & Media and the region’s councils this week.
Newcastle City Council is to be the first of the region’s 25 local authorities to sign up to Northern Film & Media’s Filming Friendly Partnership Charter – the Regional Screen Agency’s key strategy for bringing more film and TV to the North East of England – at a special event in the historic Castle Keep of Newcastle upon Tyne on Wednesday 26 September at 10am.
“The North East already has the world class locations, but we need to make it quicker, easier and cheaper – more attractive – for production companies to shoot here. The Filming Friendly Partnership aims to do just this. The signature of Newcastle City Council today could be a great step towards more film and TV production here.
“£7m is brought into the region every year by production companies shooting in the region. This translates to around £20,000 a day spent in our restaurants, hotels, and shops; on crew, facilities and services. This is a good start, but through this charter and this partnership we aim to encourage more films, TV programmes and advertisement to shoot here,” said Tom Harvey, Chief Executive, Northern Film & Media.
Newcastle City Council's Director of Policy and Assistant Chief Executive Paul Rubinstein said: "We're delighted to support this important and innovative charter that we hope will result in even more television and film companies coming to Newcastle, boosting our local economy and getting city landmarks on screens across the world."
The Filming Friendly Partnership was launched on the set of Atonement in the summer of 2006. Since then, Northern Film & Media has consulted production managers, location managers and local authorities and worked to produce a Charter and guide to co-operating with production companies.
The charter, along with the guides and support seminars hosted by Northern Film & Media, equips local authorities with the knowledge to deal with production effectively when filming takes place in their region and also reap the many benefits.
Filming brings three main benefits: It can represent a large financial invest in a location’s economy, as local companies are employed on the shoot and cast and crew spend money on hotels, restaurants, shops and bars. The location also benefits from the feel good factor attached to having a production in town, often providing a confidence boost or cultural focal point. Finally, evidence increasingly suggests that filming can result in tourism for a location, which in turn brings its own financial benefits.
Following the shooting of Harry Potter in Alnwick it was reported that Alnwick Castle enjoyed a 120% increase in visitors, bringing an extra £9m in to the economy. A film like Goal, essentially a wonderful advertisement for the regions vibrant urban centres, dramatic coastal scenes and passionate people, is seen by around 72m people across the world on big and small screens, attracting yet more visitors to the region.
“I’m very proud of the work we’ve undertaken as the Regional Screen Agency for the North East of England in the past 12 months alongside each of the region’s local authorities. Today is very much about the Filming Friendly Partnership as a whole. It is vital that each of the 25 local authorities sign up to this charter so that we can sell ourselves as a truly Filming Friendly region,” added Tom Harvey.
(DS)