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.
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.
Tommy Gormley, a prolific First Assistant Director and Glasgow native, has voiced his support for a purpose-built studio facility in Scotland. Television drama Outlander has been one of the largest productions to shoot in Scotland and filmed at adapted facilities near Glasgow.
The BBC’s upcoming period drama series Dickensian may have to film on location in Eastern Europe due to a lack of UK studio space. Red Planet Pictures plans to build a portion of 19th century London for the shoot, which will be set across Charles Dickens’ literary world.
The next Star Wars movie will be filmed at Pinewood Studios in London. Star Wars: The Force Awakens recently wrapped its Pinewood shoot as the first in a new trilogy and will be released in 2015. Gareth Edwards will direct the next film, a standalone movie, at Pinewood next year.
International producers on a familiarisation trip to Abu Dhabi have highlighted the need for studio facilities alongside the city’s 30% filming incentive. The city’s main production company, twofour54 intaj, offers 11 sound stages, the largest of which are around 7,000 sq ft.