City booming as location for TV and film
A RECORD number of film and TV productions were made on location in Liverpool last year.
A report going to the city council’s Culture and Tourism Select Committee in August reveals during 2015, 257 film and TV projects came to the city, resulting in 1,067 filming days and bringing in £11.5m to the local economy.
This is a 50% increase on the previous year, with the main rise being the number of days of filming per project.
One of the major productions filmed in 2015 was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – a Harry Potter prequel, written by J K Rowling and starring Eddie Redmayne.
Liverpool was the only non-studio location used, and key scenes were filmed inside St George’s Hall and the Cunard Building.
The Warner Brothers film hits cinemas in November, and during its time here more than 1,000 cast and crew stayed in ten city centre hotels, resulting in over 5,000 bed nights and generating more than £1.5m directly into the local economy.
Other production highlights included: Rocky spin off, Golden Globe winning and Oscar-nominated Creed saw filming take place in Goodison Park; Florence Foster Jenkins starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant turned Water Street in to 1920s New York; Peaky Blinders returned to the city for its third season filming at New Brighton, Croxteth Hall and the Welsh Streets; Stephen Poliakoff BBC 2 drama Close to the Enemy will air later this year, and saw stars Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005), Angela Bassett (American Horror Story, ER, What’s Love Got to Do with It) filming in and around the city; Acclaimed Sky1 drama The Five, which was written by bestselling author Harlan Coben, shot scenes for all 10 episodes at locations across Merseyside, including Old Hall Street, Crosby Beach and Lark Lane.
And the success continues as Liverpool’s small Film Office team predict that 2016/17 will be another bumper year.
So far 147 productions have been filmed resulting in 312 film days. One of the most high-profile films to be shot in the city so far this year is Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool which saw actors Annette Bening and Jamie Bell in Liverpool last month.
