Category Archives: UK studios

The Broadcast Indie Survey 2023

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Paul Evans

The Broadcast Indie Survey 2023 is out [£] and I’ve given it a quick scan. Here are the highlights: Fragile confidence I you had to sum up the industry’s future outlook based on Broadcast Magazine’s 2023 Indie Survey in one … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Employment, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget productions, Post-production, Public Service Broadcasting, Skills & capacity, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The state of the UK film and TV economy

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Paul Evans

I occasionally get asked for updates on the general state of the UK film and TV sector, and I can usually reply offering a few links which general readers may find useful. My first, and most current link would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Economics, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget features, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, TV Advertising, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

UK independent productions, the inflation punch-in-the-mouth, and the very European remedies.

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Paul Evans

The boxer, Mike Tyson, was once asked about his plan for a fight and he answered; “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Economists have a variation on that line: “Everyone has a plan until inflation … Continue reading →

Posted in EU & Brexit, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget features, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Understanding commuting costs – some bookmarks

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Paul Evans

For freelancers working either in film and TV, or in Live Events, there is often no option to use public transport to get to work. For a typical filming day, Bectu members tell us that they tend to arrive at … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Freelance working, High End TV data, Long hours, Safe working practices, UK studios, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Skills shortages in film & TV – update

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Paul Evans

There’s a useful roundup in the i-Paper showing the scale of the studio expansion and growing physical production capacity that the UK has, in contrast to the roster of available skills which will leave an estimated “40,000 workers needed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Quotas, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Shepperton update: Now Prime Video have agreed a deal.

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Paul Evans

Further to a recent post here about Shepperton (which outlined the way that Netflix were treating the studio as it’s UK production base), The Pinewood Group (Shepperton’s owners) have today confirmed that the new facilities under development will be given … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Production growing in the nations and regions

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Paul Evans

Back in September, I posted here about The Pact Census (as carried out by Oliver and Ohlbaum). I’ve been meaning to pull out something about the impact on regional production from that for a while. So here goes. Pact chose … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Skills & capacity, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Round up – production in the UK

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

Anyone looking for a good roundup of the UK production landscape – investments, studios, facilities, etc, may find this article in KFTV useful. A lot of it has been covered here already, though I’m aware I need to post more … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged | Leave a comment

BFI Screen Business report details the scale of the UK production boom

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

Anyone who has any doubts about the size and scale of the UK production boom can have a look at the latest BFI Screen Business report (if the annual Pact Census most recently published in September wasn’t convincing enough!). The … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Economics, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Shinfield Studios planning permission granted.

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

Shinfield Studios in Reading is another addition to the UK’s ever-mushrooming production capacity (for details of other recent developments see the UK Studio Watch tag on this site). Located very close the M4 and nearly 5 miles away from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Skills & capacity, UK studios | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Shepperton expansion confirmed – with deeper Netflix ties

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Paul Evans

Further to the previous post about Shepperton Studios here a few months ago, it looks like the support from Spelthorne Council has borne fruit: The Pinewood Group has now announced its decision to further expand Shepperton. This will expand the capacity … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, High End TV data, Skills & capacity, UK studios | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bray Studios expansion agreed

Posted on November 9, 2021 by Paul Evans

Bray Studios – the home of Hammer Horror films – is the latest of the UK’s historic film studios to announce an expansion. Plainly, this growing capacity is good news all round for Bectu members, though there will be mixed … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, High End TV data, Skills & capacity, UK studios | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Cultural Diversity arguments against Channel Four privatisation

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

The UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity (UKCCD) have published their submission to the consultation on Channel Four privatisation here [pdf]. It makes a key point that should concern Bectu members who are concerned about the quality of the content that … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The latest Bond: A big couple of weeks for cinema

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

All eyes that are interested in the whole cinema-to-sofa thing will be watching the box-office performance of the latest Bond installment, No Time to Die, and Sony’s latest comic-book adaptation Venom over the next few weeks. This is not just … Continue reading →

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UK studio expansions – latest: Netflix announces plans for Longcross

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

Another sign of the UK production sector heating up rapidly, Netflix (already projected to spend more than $1bn on across 60 UK productions in 2021 alone) is adding to its UK production capacity with a partnership with Aviva Investors expanding … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Skills & capacity, SVoD, UK studios | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Streaming demand for UK shows will create 30,000 film and TV jobs”

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

This, from today’s Guardian. But, as Head of Bectu, Phillipa Childs, says on Twitter.… “with a shortage of crew it’s important that the industry invests in training, development, safeguarding and well-being to attract diverse talent and bring the best of … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Skills & capacity, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Is UK audiovisual content about to hit a perfect storm?

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

I’d suggest that there is an emerging picture of where UK production is likely to head in the next few years, and it’s one that should worry us – particularly from the point of view of cultural diversity (which is … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Cultural Diversity is not just about limiting discrimination – it’s an economic and industrial factor

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Paul Evans

It’s worth bookmarking Unesco’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions here. This is an important global statement on the need for cultural expressions to be produced, distributed, and owned ‘locally’ (in the Nations and … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Disability equality, Diversity of representation, Economics, Equality, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Gender equality, Gender representation, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Race equality, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios, Wealth inequality | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pact Census 2021 published

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Paul Evans

One of the biggest, and most useful info-dumps about UK TV production has landed today with the publication of the Oliver and Ohlbaum / Pact Census (which is also published alongside a briefing on the impact of Covid this year). … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Post-production, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Shepperton Studios

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

Another ‘UK Studio Watch‘ post – this time on Shepperton Studios in Surrey. Shepperton is owned by the Pinewood Studios group (since 2001) and it has 15 stages including some underwater tanks for filming aquatic scenes. It is now (since … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, UK studios | Tagged , | 2 Comments

LoTR >> NZ 2 UK

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

The Guardian and BBC are both reporting that Amazon Studios are moving their Lord of The Rings TV series production to the UK and away from New Zealand, and that tax incentive appears to play a big part in the … Continue reading →

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BBC at Elstree update

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Paul Evans

There was a post here recently about the Elstree Studios site (power struggle, lots of expansion, council involved in a row, etc), but the term ‘Elstree Studios’ is a cause of substantial confusion (not least because it’s quite common for … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Public Service Broadcasting, Skills & capacity, UK studios | Tagged | Leave a comment

British content projecting Britain

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Paul Evans

I’ll be posting more on this in the coming weeks, but there are some very big concerns circulating even in Conservative circles about the potential damage that the UK could sustain due to changes in the film and TV industry. … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation & VFX, BBC, Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Culture policy, EU & Brexit, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, The Conservative Party, UK studios | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

What’s going on at Elstree then?

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Paul Evans

BREAKING: A battle for #management control of @ElstreeStudios has broken out between the studios’ managing director Roger Morris and Hertsmere Borough Council @HertsmereBC, which owns the studios. Meanwhile, Morris has apparently "disappeared". https://t.co/EPKVgXypCM — Broadcast Tech (@Broadcast_TECH) July 22, 2021

Posted in UK studios | Tagged , | 1 Comment