Written by new-contact on Mar 24, 2014. Posted in On Location

Northern Film and Media in England lobbies for regional film fund

Northern Film and Media in England is lobbying local authorities to set up a film fund to help boost production in the region and build on the success of dramas series like Vera. Currently, the organisation can offer no more than GBP3,000 for projects looking for funding in the north-east of England.

Production professionals in the North East want the region to be able to offer similar funds to what’s available in Scotland and the north-west of England, the BBC reports.

Northern Film and Media wants to be able to build on the success of locally-filmed dramas like detective dramas Vera and George Gently (left). Creative Scotland and Screen Yorkshire can offer funding of up to GBP500,000 per production.

“Yorkshire has had a huge increase in the number of productions shot there since their fund was set up,” Northern Film and Media Managing Director John Tulip told the outlet.

“Recently we hosted one new drama shot for three days at Bamburgh in Northumberland, but the rest is being shot in Yorkshire. If we'd had a fund to offer them, that might have persuaded them to base themselves here.

“We can provide a great service in terms of finding locations and crew, and supporting productions when they're here. But in terms of offering money for development, we just can't compete.”

At the moment there isn't a single decent-size independent production company based in the North East. That has to change.

Alan Fairholm, TV Producer

Northern Film and Media was in fact given GBP2.4 million for a pilot funding programme in 2010 but the scheme was not extended.

Added freelance TV producer Alan Fairholm: “At the moment there isn't a single decent-size independent production company based in the North East. That has to change.”

(Vera photo: ITV; George Gently photo: BBC/Company Pictures)