The combined spend by film and high-end television production has reached record levels. According to the BFI, the industry contributed GBP5.64 billion to the national economy during 2021. This total spend is the highest ever reported, reaching GBP1.27 billion more than the pre-pandemic year 2019. April to June was the largest three-month period on record, totalling GBP2.29 million.
Amanda Lind, Sweden’s Minister of Culture and Democracy, has announced that new production incentives will be introduced for the nation’s film and television industries. Lind detailed that in 2022 the incentive would be capped at USD11.6 million, or SEK100 million.
A total of 9,781 Shoot Days were recorded across all categories in the second quarter of 2021. The number exceeds the 2019 average by 7.2%.
New industry action to tackle bullying, harassment and racism in the workplace provides resources to employees, freelancers and employers. For employers the BFI and BAFTA provide a new Action List for the film and television industry. The Film and TV Charity have also launched a suite of bullying support services for immediate support to employees and freelancers. Further steps such as the BFI hiring the first Production Inclusion Manager to advise productions are also underway.
The British Film Institute's Official 2020 statistics provide a positive outlook for the industry. Despite a nearly six month pause in physical production, the total UK spend on High end TV and film is down just 21% on 2019. Nearly GBP1.19 out of the total GBP2.34 spend was recorded in the final quarter, signalling significant recovery and a resilience of the UK industry.
The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report provides positive news for the UK advertising ecosystem with forecasts expecting the UK ad market to grow faster than expected. The positive news is attributed to an economic boost from Brexit certainty and a vaccine rollout scheme.
Two weeks from the end of the Thai shoot for The Serpent on location filming was halted by Covid-19. The new circumstances meant that plans to wrap the shoot in eastern Europe had to be changed.
The five finalists are competing to be named best European film location in a vote by the general public. The European Film Commissions Network has revealed the shortlist of locations in Slovakia, Italy, Germany, Lithuania and North Macedonia.