Written by Tom Deehan on Feb 8, 2016. Posted in General Interest / On Location

The future looks bright for Newcastle’s film industry

Located in the north-east of England, Newcastle may seem like an unassuming destination for location filming but in recent years the city has become an attractive area particularly for television shows. Recent productions include the upcoming ITV adaptation of Beowulf and detective series Vera.

One company that is hoping to break into Newcastle’s emerging film industry is the location service company Location One, having opened a new branch there in January 2016. TLG spoke to Location One’s Unit Manager, Andrew Edwards to understand what the city has to offer.

“Newcastle is an up and coming city in terms of film making. We have our regular dramas such as Vera, George Gently and more recently Beowulf. We also have two very successful, award winning children’s BBC dramas currently ongoing - The Dumping Ground and Wolfblood. Beyond that we have our fair share of low budget productions; Ken Loach was filming here last November. And we have from time to time the odd massive feature - Steven Spielberg’s The BFG was filming on Bamburgh beach last summer and the Downton Abbey Christmas specials have been filmed at Alnwick Castle.”

“It’s my hope that by setting up here we can help expand on the foundations of the local film hub and hopefully encourage further growth within the local industry. The north east has got some pretty amazing locations, some of which are very remote but now we can help service them properly as well. This should be an encouragement to film makers from outside the region.”

With The BFG being the next major release from acclaimed Director Steven Spielberg, the likely success of the film will certainly elevate Newcastle to become a desirable location alongside already popular areas such as London and Yorkshire.

As an incentive for filmmakers, productions shot on location within the UK can obtain a tax rebate of up to 25% should they meet specific requirements and pass a cultural test. With a recent report detailing that the UK’s film industry has earned over GBP1 billion for the second year in a row, the country is dominating the global market for productions.