News / bottle yard studios
Bristol’s film and television industry brings multimillion pound economic boost
As one of the most sought-after locations for high-end TV productions, Bristol has seen a boom, bringing with it a multimillion pound economic boost to the city.
This economic boost goes beyond creating short-term jobs for local crews and suppliers. It has also seen a far-reaching impact on tourism and the wider visitor economy.
Bristol locations featured on screen often become attractions in their own right, increasing footfall and generating new revenue streams for venues, businesses and charities.
For example, familiar sites such as Aerospace Bristol (Rivals), St Werburgh’s City Farm (The Outlaws) and The Georgian House Museum (Sanditon) have become tourist magnets thanks to their on-screen fame.
Upcoming hit TV productions include The Seven Dials Mystery, starring Mia McKenna-Bruce (pictured), Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman – photo: Netflix
According to the annual figures released by Bristol Film Office, the last financial year was a bumper one, with the economic impact of filming in Bristol and at The Bottle Yard Studios soaring by 55 per cent bringing an estimated £46.6m boost to the city.
A total of 29 major productions, including three feature films and 26 high-end TV dramas, filmed across 736 days with support from the Film Office, which processed 689 permits for filming on city-owned locations.
Upcoming titles include Sky’s thriller Inheritance (Gugu Mbatha Raw, Jonny Lee Miller), Channel 5/PBS’s period drama The Forsytes (Millie Gibson, Joshua Orpin), Netflix’s Agatha Christie adaptation The Seven Dials Mystery (Mia McKenna-Bruce, Helena Bonham Carter, Martin Freeman), BBC’s The Dream Lands (Pascale Kann, Anna Friel), the feature film Bad Apples (Saoirse Ronan), and returning BBC series Am I Being Unreasonable? and season two of Boarders on BBC filmed at Clifton College.
The second season of Boarders on BBC is to return to the television screens – photo: BBC
Notably, filming also benefited local sites like Underfall Yard which bolstered its fundraising efforts following a devastating arson attack.
Other high-profile titles filmed in the city include Young Sherlock, The War Between Land and Sea, The Undeclared War (series two), and Mother’s Pride. Studio-only productions included Malory Towers, Can You Keep a Secret? and Jaime’s Treetop Tales.
Tony Dyer, leader of Bristol City Council, said: “Bristol’s film industry plays a significant role in the growing strength of our local and regional economy. The substantial growth in economic impact these latest figures demonstrate underlines just how important this sector is to our city, not just in terms of jobs but also exposure to a global audience.
“This impact, combined with that of other culture and creative sectors in the city, is driving an economic impact worth £892m a year to Bristol and makes us a city that investors have increasing confidence in with an estimated £88 leveraged by arts organisations for every £1 invested.”
The recent figures are an increase of £16.6m on the previous year.
Bristol’s film industry has contributed to the tourism and visitor economy of Bristol – photo: Mammoth Screen/BBC
Laura Aviles, head of Film, Bristol City Council, said: “A 55 per cent increase in the economic contribution generated by film and TV productions hosted by The Bottle Yard Studios and supported by Bristol Film Office, in just one year, is outstanding.
“Not only are we seeing the number of productions opting to film in Bristol remain strong, we’re also seeing the size and length of those shoots increase.
“Thanks to the outstanding service from The Bottle Yard team and the gold standard of logistical liaison provided by the Film Office on location, productions are spending more time prepping and filming bigger, more ambitious shoots here. This is leading to more employment for regional scripted freelancers and companies, and more local spend in the economy.”
Main photo: Mammoth Screen /Masterpiece PBS
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
