Northwest Vision and Media, create the bigger picture
Another Treble for Liverpool
Another Treble for Liverpool
This time it's not football but filming - Figures recorded by North West Vision's Liverpool film office show that film and TV production in Liverpool has trebled this year. The film office organised 240 filming days between January and the end of March compared to 74 last year. The number of productions also trebled - up from 21 to 61 in the first quarter.
Council leader Warren Bradley said: "Liverpool has a fantastic reputation within the film industry for providing great locations and expert support for film makers.
"We are seeing unprecedented interest in using the city for making television series and feature films.
"It is a multi-million pound industry sustaining thousands of jobs and providing a vital boost to scores of local business and that is why we do all we can to assist production companies who want to film here."
Lynn Saunders, North West Vision's Head of Inward Investment added: "It has been an amazing start to 2006 for us and I am confident that this is likely to be our busiest year on record."
In 2005, the Film Office helped attract 180 productions to Liverpool creating 632 film days and generating almost £14 million for the local economy.
Productions filmed or lined up so far this year include:
- 'Across the Universe' - a romantic musical starring Bono and Joe Cocker set in the 1960's and told through Beatles songs. Made by Revolution Films - part of Columbia Pictures - it is the largest scale production ever shot in Liverpool with more than 150 extras involved in some of the scenes.
- Sparkle - a feature film starring Bob Hoskins and rising Liverpool actor Shaun Evans. An opportunistic young scouser who moves to London and decides to sleep his way to the top. Sparkle was funded by the UK Film Council and North West Vision.
- "Lilies" - an eight-part BBC prime time drama series set in dockland Liverpool in the 1920's, focusing on three girls who live with their father in a terraced house.
- Casualty 1906 - a pilot for a drama set in a 1906 accident and emergency ward filmed in the former Liverpool Royal Infirmary building.
- Ruby in the Smoke - a one off period drama for the BBC starring Billie Piper and Julie Walters based upon Phillip Pullman's novel.
- Longford - a Channel Four drama based on the early political career Lord Langford, filmed at Old Bridewell, Walton Prison, St George's Hall and Canning Street.
Other productions include TV series Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, a pop video for Liz McLarnon and an advertisement for Carlsberg.
In 2005, the Film Office helped attract 180 productions to Liverpool creating 632 film days and generating almost £14 million for the local economy.
