The boom in UK film and prestige TV drama production accelerated in 2017, with total investment in titles including Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Dunkirk and The Crown hitting a record of almost £3bn.
The amount spent on film production rose 12% year-on-year to a record £1.9bn, with four of the top five at the box office – The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast, Dunkirk and Paddington 2 – based in the UK. This was the highest film investment figure since the British Film Institute (BFI) began keeping records in 1994.
The big Hollywood studios accounted for the vast majority of production spending, ploughing £1.69bn into making films in the UK, a 23% year-on-year increase. Other titles made in Britain included Tim Burton’s upcoming Dumbo, Ron Howard’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, Mission Impossible 6 and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2.
Spending on high-end TV production, from Game of Thrones to Peaky Blinders and The Crown, rose 9% to a record £938m last year.
“The UK is a creative powerhouse for developing many films and shows enjoyed by millions globally,” said Margot James, minister for digital and the creative industries. “These fantastic statistics show investment in our screen industries is booming.”
Overall, spending on making films and high-end TV shows in the UK grew 11% year-on-year to a record £2.84bn.
“Whether producing lavish period dramas or fantasy epics, every corner of the UK is delivering at the highest level,” said Adrian Wootton, chief executive of the British Film Commission.
The BFI’s statistics show that 211 feature films started shooting in the UK last year.
Sixty-eight of these are classified as major “inward investment” films, which means the Hollywood studios choosing to use the UK as a filming base.
The UK is a popular destination because of its highly skilled workforce as well as attractive tax breaks for films that qualify as UK productions. There are also tax breaks for qualifying TV productions where the spending is at least £1m per episode.
Almost three-quarters (£684m) of the £938m spent on high-end TV productions made in the UK last year came from 49 productions financed by deep-pocketed overseas players, such as the Netflix/Sony co-production The Crown, HBO’s Game of Thrones and Amazon’s Outlander.
The amount spent by such companies rose 23% year-on-year, as the global appetite for high-end TV productions showed no sign of slowing.
Netflix has upped its content budget for this year to $8bn and on top of its vast spend on TV has said it plans to release 80 original films, more than the five major Hollywood studios combined.
“Productions such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Paddington 2 and Game of Thrones deliver new employment opportunities for everyone UK-wide, with every conceivable skill required, from special effects designers to costumiers, accountants and drivers,” said Amanda Nevill, chief executive of the BFI.
The report shows that 130 domestic films were made in the UK last year, including Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, and Idris Elba’s Yardie, with a total spend of £190m. Another 13 films that started shooting are classified as UK co-productions.
UK box office revenues rose 3.7% last year to £1.38bn, with admissions rising marginally by 1% to 171m.
