Written by new-contact on Feb 29, 2012. Posted in Incentive News

TV exec calls for location filming tax credits to boost Scotland's appeal

Scotland should offer its own specific filming tax breaks, a Scottish TV executive says. Alan Clements is Head of Content at STV and spoke this week at an Edinburgh conference, The Scotsman reports. He argued that filming tax breaks for Scotland could help the country compete with Ireland.

Clements said: “Look at the massive impact the filming of The Tudors in the Republic of Ireland or Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland has had on their indigenous industries.

Look at the massive impact the filming of The Tudors in the Republic of Ireland or Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland has had on their indigenous industries.

Alan Clements, STV

“This is not a call for greater government subsidy – far from it. But judicious investment, for a return, and a well targeted fiscal policy including tax breaks could reinvigorate the creative industries of Scotland.”

Scotland is being used extensively as a filming location at the moment, but many of the major shoots double its landscapes for elsewhere in the world. Zombie thriller World War Z and epic drama Cloud Atlas were among the high-profile films shooting in Glasgow in 2011, but they doubled the city for Philadelphia and San Francisco respectively.

(Main page image courtesy of Glasgow: Scotland with style)