Thirty-six international films shot on location in the UK in 2014, according to the British Film Institute. The shoots helped drive a 35% rise in overall production spending in the UK compared to the previous year. The new Star Wars movie was among the biggest films.
A remake of the historical epic Ben-Hur has started filming on location at Cinecitta Studios in Rome. Charlton Heston starred in the iconic 1959 version of the story, which also shot at Cinecitta Studios.
The future of Alaska’s production industry is looking uncertain. Lawmakers in the energy-rich state are reportedly responding to falling oil prices by winding down the filming incentive. Alaska’s film tax credits have attracted movies including whale rescue drama Big Miracle.
A VIP travel company is eyeing Hollywood stars by opening a new office in Atlanta. Georgia’s status has grown as a filming hub for big-budget productions partly through a generous filming incentive that’s secured the Hunger Games franchise and the Divergent movies.
The Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact) in the UK is set to launch a US branch later this year. America has become a major commissioning market for UK independent production companies and the US accounts for nearly half of all the UK’s export revenue.
Lawmakers in Washington, DC, are pushing to introduce local filming incentives. The city is a popular setting for TV productions like House of Cards, Veep and Scandal, but high-profile shows typically only spend a couple of days in the actual city to film establishing shots.
Developers in Florida are looking at a site in Miami-Dade County to build a new large-scale studio. The facility would offer nearly a dozen sound stages and multiple water tanks, and could help the city attract more productions like Miami-filmed spy drama Burn Notice, which ended in 2013.
Edinburgh hosted 361 separate productions in 2014, resulting in a local economic impact of nearly GBP 5 million, an increase of 53% on the previous year. Television drama Outlander filmed in the capital for 19 days.