PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
Skyfall has shot more scenes in London and the UK than any Bond fi lm for the past 10 years
Wootton, chief executive of Film London, this is validation of the efforts of the public organisation to ensure the UK capital is the most fi lm-friendly city for high-budget features outside the US. “That expenditure, that commitment is in direct proportion to how we’ve worked to open up Lon- don and make it much more viable,” he says of the Skyfall shoot. Film London, set up in 2003, provides the
heavy lifting for features, TV projects and com- mercials shooting in the city. It has had consider- able impact in that time, with a 30% increase in fi lming in the capital. “When we started there was a perception of
London as slow, bureaucratic and expensive,” says Wootton. “We have spent a lot of time and elbow- grease breaking that down by very practical hard work, getting all the local authorities to work with us and with each other.” Producer Melissa Parmenter of Revolution
Films, working on Michael Winterbottom’s King Of Soho, has just shot that fi lm’s eight-week stint almost entirely on location in central London. Although it was a low-budget production, with neither the scale nor shooting time of US studio shoots, she says it was a very positive experience. “We shot in some famous locations — all the
real places like [jazz club] Ronnie Scott’s and [res- taurant] L’Escargot, and they were all really help- ful,” says Parmenter. “The councils were particularly great.” Signifi cantly, the staff responsible for fi lm at all
Reaching for the sky S
kyfall, the new James Bond film, has shot more scenes in London and the UK than any Bond fi lm for the past 10 years. For Adrian
‘Last year we saw a 25% increase in the number of feature films shooting in
London’ Adrian Wootton, Film London
right now for the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics,” says Derek Watts, 3 Mills’ studio executive. To minimise disruption to film shoots in the
Film London has helped open up the UK capital to some of the most complex and ambitious features shooting anywhere in the world
of London’s 33 local authorities have survived otherwise drastic budget cuts to date. “[The councils] have recognised fi lm is a seri-
ous business that employs people in their bor- oughs and helps bring tourists who spend money with them,” says Wootton. The Old Royal Naval College (ORNC) in Green-
wich directly attributes a rise in visitor numbers to its role in films including The Iron Lady and Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. It recently hosted Working Title Films’ Les Misera- bles for a week, standing in for a Parisian square. “We need the money [from shoots]. Our build-
ings are 300 years old and need a lot of mainte- nance,” says Ian Allchin, estates operations manager at the privately owned ORNC. There are now more major US tentpole block-
busters shooting in London and the rest of the UK than anywhere outside the US, with 75% of the UK’s film industry existing within the capital. Producer David Parfi tt, who is also the chair of Film London, believes this is due to the value you get when based within the M25, and utilising facilities such as Pinewood, Shepperton, Ealing and 3 Mills studios. “If a camera goes down or you lose a light, it’s a phone call and you’ll get a replacement within half an hour,” he says. “There is fl exibility when shooting in the UK that allows you to keep your costs under control.” East London’s 3 Mills Studios is enjoying one of
the busiest periods in its history, recently hosting Danny Boyle’s Trance, Tim Burton’s stop-frame animation Frankenweenie and IM Global’s Jason Statham action thriller Hummingbird. “We also have lots of rehearsal space, including
capital during the 17 days of the summer games, Film London and the British Film Commission have been working for four years to communicate the fact London will be open for business. “[The message is] to avoid the centre of London
for that period and still be based at the studios and use the rest of the UK. We can provide them with practical solutions,” says Wootton. He adds the key is the US studios believe Film London will deliver what it promises. “Last year alone we saw a 25% increase in the
number of feature fi lms shooting in London com- pared with the previous year,” he explains. “That’s as a result of us saying, ‘We will make sure you have an economically sensible, rapid delivery sys- tem, where you’ll get what you want.’”
www.fi lmlondon.org.uk
SKYFALL CASE STUDY
The decision by the Skyfall team — director Sam Mendes, production outfi t Eon with backers Sony Pictures Entertainment and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios — to set some key scenes on location in London is a valuable endorsement of the UK capital. “London is a key character in Skyfall in
Bond’s 50th year,” says James Grant, the fi lm’s supervising location manager. “While the capital has many iconic locations, they all require thorough preparation. Film London was instrumental in supporting and assisting with this.” Producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara
Broccoli agree: “The complexities of shooting in one of the world’s most exciting locations was made so much easier with the willing enthusiasm and experience of everyone at Film London.”
May 21, 2012 Screen International at Cannes 31 ■
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