International feature film production spend in the UK delivers £1.74 billion and High-End TV inward investment spend reaches £3.63 billion.
Official Film and High-End TV (HETV) production statistics released by the British Film Institute (BFI) demonstrate the strength and ongoing resilience of the UK’s screen sectors. With inward investment spend reaching £5.37 billion, a 6% increase on 2021 figures, the UK’s film and HETV industry continues to reinforce its globally recognised position as a first-class production centre.
The British Film Commission (BFC), the UK agency with a remit to attract and support inward investment film and HETV production from major international film, TV and streaming clients, provided bespoke production support to 93% of the total inward investment HETV spend and 94% of total inward investment feature film spend in 2022. This included bespoke support to many major film and HETV titles such as Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 (Amazon), Lift (Netflix), Black Cake (Hulu), Napoleon (Apple TV+), The Crown season 6 (Netflix), The Boys in the Boat (MGM), Fast X (Universal), Wicked (Universal), The Great Season 3 (MRC), Bridgerton season 3 (Netflix) and Disclaimer (Apple TV+).
As today’s figures demonstrate, the UK inward investment film and TV industry continues to experience remarkable growth in production, generating billions of pounds for the UK economy and thousands of new jobs in production hubs throughout the UK’s nations and regions. It’s a real testament to the strength of our regional, as well as metropolitan, offer that so many major film and High-End TV productions choose to base themselves through the length and breadth of the UK. With the right levels of ongoing investment in skills, support and infrastructure, the UK is well-positioned to attract major international film and TV productions for many years to come.
Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of the British Film Commission
Today’s record-breaking figures for film and TV production in the UK are great news for our industry and the UK economy and underlines the success of our industry at a global level. Our world-class talent, craft and production services, and vital film and TV tax reliefs, have enabled the UK to be a major player in a highly competitive global industry. Further investment in expanding studio space UK-wide to meet production demand will continue to build on this economic success and create further jobs.
To see audiences coming back to cinemas after the pandemic for Top Gun: Maverick, Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical and independent films, such as Belfast, shows that film and the big screen experience is very important to people. But while independent UK films such as Aftersun and The Banshees of Inisherin are enjoying awards and audience success worldwide and are clearly essential to the creativity of our industry and for UK culture, the continuing downturn in production spend on UK indie film means we need to stand behind the recommendations of the Economic Review of UK Independent Film to ensure it survives and thrives.
Ben Roberts, Chief Executive of the British Film Institute
By attracting major productions through competitive tax reliefs, world-class stage space, crew and infrastructure, inward investment feature film production spend tops £1.74 billion in 2022, with High-End TV inward investment spend reaching £3.63 billion. While feature film production spend has increased by 31% from 2021, HETV total spend sees a slight decrease of 3% from last year. However, as these are interim figures, it is expected that the total inward investment feature film and HETV spend claimed will be revised upwards from the current total as total UK spend figures are finalised over the course of 2023.
The UK’s seven production hubs continue to attract major international film and HETV productions with first-rate studios, crew, infrastructure, locations and production support facilities. Contributing to local economies throughout the UK through employment and direct and multiplier spending, some of the major inward investment film and HETV productions made in the UK’s nations and regions last year included:
- Wales: Black Cake (Hulu) and Sex Education series 4 (Netflix).
- Scotland: The Buccaneers (Apple TV+), Outlander season 7 (Sony/Starz), Chemistry of Death (Paramount+), Anansi Boys (Amazon Studios) and Annika (Masterpiece).
- Northern Ireland: Lift (Netflix), Dalgleish season 2 (Acorn) and The Woman in the Wall (Showtime).
- Yorkshire: All Creatures Great and Small season 3 (PBS) and The Full Monty (Disney+).
- North West England: Peaky Blinders season 6 (Netflix), Bodies (Netflix), Entitled (Showtime) and Everyone Else Burns (NBCUniversal).
- South West England: Alex Rider season 3 (Sony/Amazon Studios), The Winter King (Sony/Bad Wolf) and Rain Dogs (HBO).
- London/South East England: Fast X (Universal), Wicked (Universal), Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 (Paramount), Snow White (Disney), The Boys in the Boat (MGM), Barbie (Warner Bros.), Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 (Amazon), Napoleon (Apple TV+), The Crown season 6 (Netflix), The Bee Keeper (Miramax), Bridgerton season 3 (Netflix), Disclaimer (Apple TV+) and Oscar-nominated Empire of Light (Searchlight Pictures).
In 2022, the British Film Commission’s bespoke support facilitated major film and HETV projects by assisting international companies in all areas of production. This includes troubleshooting support for productions on issues such as of visas, locations, UK stage space, EU Exit issues and UK tax relief. The BFC also continued to showcase the UK-wide offer to the film and TV industry in Los Angeles, in partnership with Creative England, Film London, Northern Ireland Screen, Screen Scotland and Creative Wales.
2023 has already shown promising signs that the UK can further strengthen its reputation as a leading film and TV production centre, as productions such as A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount), The Killing Kind (Paramount+), Back to Black (Focus Features) and Mary and George (AMC) have all started filming this year.
As well as productions utilising the UK’s world-class studios and diverse and unique locations, many have also made use of the UK’s award-winning VFX and post-production sector. Multiple projects qualified as British purely through UK VFX and post-production spend in 2022, including features The Covenant (MGM) and The Strangers (Lionsgate), as well as, HETV series Nautilus (Disney+), Constellation (Apple TV+) and Wilderness (Amazon).
