Great locations, experienced crews and juicy incentives have made UK studios increasingly attractive. But with budgets falling, could the bubble be about to burst?
Clockwise from top left: Robert Pattinson in The Batman; Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning; Samuel L Jackson in Secret Invasion; Golda Rosheuvel in Bridgerton; Ewan McGregor in A Gentleman in Moscow; Barbie’s car.Clockwise from top left: Robert Pattinson in The Batman; Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning; Samuel L Jackson in Secret Invasion; Golda Rosheuvel in Bridgerton; Ewan McGregor in A Gentleman in Moscow; Barbie’s car.
Here, glamour and brutal pragmatism walk hand in hand; Polly Walker, who plays Lady Featherington, holds up the skirts of her elaborate chiffon dress, her pink Adidas sliders visible below. About 200 extras wait in a marquee, ready to film a pivotal ball scene; a man in full Regency garb vapes out of a pink pen in front of a studio door with a red light on.
That sounds wonderful – but studios are meaningless if they’re not in use. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the government introduced an emergency insurance fund for productions, encouraging studios to rapidly resume filming. With streamers desperate for content to entertain audiences stuck at home, the industry saw an unprecedented boom – that was when gaffer Walters struggled for equipment and crew – but things came to a screeching halt in July 2023.Photograph: crownworks.co.
But she is encouraged by the spring budget – particularly the new measure that at last offers a higher tax relief for lower-budget independent British movies. “There is hope on the horizon,” she says. Still, the costume designer would like to see better government support for freelancers, the backbone of the British film industry. “We do bring in billions into the economy, and that’s not to be ignored.
Stillman says CrewHQ aims not only to support new entrants to the industry, but also upskill the current workforce. “Something we’ve seen in the last five years is people moving up too fast, particularly because of the skills gap,” she says. She hopes the programme will increase diversity in the industry, improve crew mental health and enable project leaders to invest long-term in their teams.
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