North West Film Economy is Booming

Figures from North West Vision's Liverpool film office reveal 632 days of filming during 2005, beating the previous record of 612 days of filming in 2003.  2006 got off to a good start with the filming of Across the Universe, a large-scale musical production, set in the mid 60’s.  A young man from Liverpool goes to America during the Vietnam War to find his father. The story is told mainly through a number of Beatles songs performed by the characters with two major dance sequences taking place.

The Liverpool shoot was great news for local crew and facilities companies because over half of the 132 facilities companies used for the production, were local to the area. The shoot hired 172 crew and 40% of those hired were local.

Meanwhile, Manchester also had a record-breaking year in 2005. Manchester film office recorded a 30% increase in filming on the previous year, transforming the city into an array of diverse settings for the small screen.

BAFTA CANDIDATES

The North West has a strong showing in this year's BAFA submissions. Almost two dozen entries submitted for this year's BAFTAs were shot in the Northwest.

They included; Big Dippers, Legless, Magnificent 7, Shameless, Vincent, Casanova, Funland, Marian, Again, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Coast, Survivors – Days of Darkness, John Peel’s Record Box, The Story of ITV, Stuart Sutcliffe – The Lost Beatle, Titanic – Birth of a Legend, Being Pamela, Liverpool: One Night in May, Take That For the Record, Honey We’re Killing the Kids, Dead Man Weds