Authorities in Liverpool have approved plans to spend GBP 25 million converting the city’s former Littlewoods Building into new TV and film studios. The aim is to attract more movies to the city, as well as high-end television dramas like Peaky Blinders, which shot scenes locally.
New mountaineering drama Everest filmed at altitude in Nepal and Italy, while elaborate sets were built in Rome and London. The movie is based on the true story of climbers caught in a severe storm on Everest in 1996, which until recently was the mountain’s worst ever disaster.
Thailand is planning to launch its first formal filming incentive programme in 2017, with the first payments available a year later. The government is looking to launch a 15% tax rebate, with a per-production cap equivalent to about USD 5.6 million.
New period film comedy Bill filmed on location in Yorkshire. The movie takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to what might have happened to William Shakespeare during his so-called ‘Lost Years’ in the 1580s when there are no records of what he was doing.
A second series of ITV’s drama Safe House will film on location in the Lake District in north-west England. The new four-part story will follow a married couple whose countryside guest house is also used by the police to shelter witnesses.
Location Scotland, the Edinburgh-based Service Production Company, has re-launched as LS Productions. LS Productions has established itself as the UK’s largest and most experienced Service Production Company.
The creator of new TV drama The Bastard Executioner was drawn to film in Wales because of the country’s historical castles, and by the UK’s TV tax credit. Kurt Sutter is most famous for the California-set biker drama Sons of Anarchy, which ran for seven seasons.
A second follow-up to hit 2013 action thriller The Purge is set to film in Rhode Island in the eastern US. The franchise follows disparate characters in a dystopian future where for one night each year all crime is legal.