Ireland has increased its formal filming incentive from 28% to 32% and has expanded support to cover expenditure on star salaries. Production is focused in and around Dublin, with major TV shoots including historical dramas Vikings, Penny Dreadful and Ripper Street.
Pinewood Studios has been granted approval by a local authority for the first phase of its major new development plan. Initial work on the Pinewood Studios Development Framework will start in early 2015.
The new James Bond movie, officially named today by director Sam Mendes as Spectre, will film on location in London, Morocco, Rome, Mexico City and the Alps. Shooting will last seven months and will start next week from its Pinewood Studios base.
The UK is set to launch a filming incentive to bring more live-action children’s TV programmes to Britain. A 25% tax credit will be launched in April 2015 to tackle a decline in children’s television programming in the UK over the past ten years.
Filmmaker siblings Joel and Ethan Coen are helping boost California’s production industry by shooting their new movie Hail, Caesar! on location in Los Angeles. California’s uncompetitive filming incentive means that few features have been based in the state in recent years.
Pinewood Studios has revealed a 15% increase in profits from film production in the UK in the six months to the end of September. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the biggest shoot at Pinewood and The Avengers: Age of Ultron was the largest at Shepperton.
Ardmore Studios near Dublin is set to help establish a new film facility in the city of Limerick in western Ireland. The plan is to adapt existing industrial spaces in the city to emulate the success of Northern Ireland’s production industry, which has grown around Game of Thrones.
Pinewood Studios has agreed a deal with US studio 20th Century Fox to arrange cinema bookings for the films on its distribution slate. Spy drama Spooks: The Greater Good, filmed at Shepperton Studios, is one high-profile example due for theatrical release in May 2015.