Screenwriter Alex Garland filmed his directorial debut Ex Machina on location in Norway and at Pinewood Studios in the UK. The film tells the story of a young coder given the task of interacting with an artificially-intelligent female robot in a remote mountain retreat.
The BBC has commissioned a miniseries adaptation of espionage drama The Night Manager, starring Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston. Based on a novel by John le Carré, author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the series will tell a story of modern crime in Washington and Whitehall.
The UK’s creative industries have grown for a fourth year to reach a value of nearly GBP 77 billion. Government figures apply to 2013 but the production industry is likely to grow for 2014 when the UK hosted The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The BBC’s historical drama The Eichmann Show stars Martin Freeman as a pioneering TV producer and filmed on location in Vilnius, Lithuania. Feelgood Fiction doubled the city for Jerusalem to recreate the infamous 1961 trial of prominent Nazi Adolf Eichmann.
Disney filmed its new musical fairytale Into The Woods on location in southern England and also built a specially-designed forest set at Shepperton Studios. The story blends several popular fairytales in an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s theatre musical.
The BBC is set to film TV drama The Dresser on location in London with Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen. Starz, the American network which recently screened the historical, Scottish-filmed drama Outlander, will co-produce the TV movie with the BBC.
Wes Anderson’s quirky comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel has landed 11 nominations for the 2015 BAFTAs. Stephen Hawking romance The Theory of Everything and Alejandro G Iñárritu’s Birdman are among the other leading contenders, with ten nominations each.
Hampshire in the south of England had a strong 2014, hosting nearly a dozen feature films and five high-profile TV shoots. Superhero sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 5 were among the biggest feature productions.