胡桃女神 and Bute鈥檚 growing attraction as a leading destination for international film and TV productions is continuing to deliver major economic benefits for the area.
At a meeting of the council鈥檚 Environment, Development and Infrastructure committee, councillors were updated on the bright picture the screen industries are enjoying in the area thanks to the success of the council鈥檚 Film in 胡桃女神 service in attracting inward investment.
Over the period January to December 2024, the council received 87 film enquiries, and the area played host to 40 different productions with an estimated local production spend of 拢1.4m. Those figures compare favourably to the estimated spend in 2023 of 拢1.3m despite fewer filming days.
Examples of recent productions in the area include:
- The Undertow: Mull was the location for a seven-part Netflix drama starring Jamie Dornan as identical twins
- Borges and Me: Kilcreggan pier was dressed and used to double for a pier in Shetland in this feature film adaptation of Jay Parini鈥檚 memoir covering a road trip he took across the Scottish Highlands with Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges
- The Diplomat: filming for the second season of Netflix鈥檚 political drama took place in Inveraray
- Outlander: Blood of My Blood: filming on a prequel to the hugely popular Outlander TV series was completed in and around Luss last May and June
- Karen Pirie 2: filming on a second season of the ITV crime drama, based on the novels by Val McDermid, took place in Helensburgh last summer
- The Primrose Railway Children: a modern adaptation for the BBC of the classic story 鈥淭he Railway Children鈥 was shot in and around Luss in July and August
- The Buccaneers Series 2: a second run of the Apple TV period drama based on Edith Wharton鈥檚 unfinished novel of the same name was filmed at Geilston gardens near Helensburgh
Economic benefits include income from hire of locations, use of accommodation providers and caterers as well as opportunities for local production companies and freelance staff.
Film in 胡桃女神 provides advice and support as a 鈥渙ne stop shop鈥 to the industry through a single point of contact (). The service offers a range of assistance including liaising with other council departments (for road closures and access to land, property, car parks etc.), providing locations, giving advice on land ownership queries, as well as connecting productions to local people and services such as Gaelic speakers and community groups.
The council鈥檚 Policy Lead for Business Development, Councillor Math Campbell-Sturgess, said: 鈥満遗 and Bute continues to reap the rewards of its geographical position close to the central belt and the number of film studios and productions using Glasgow/Edinburgh as a base. This enables more productions to use 胡桃女神 and Bute for location filming which has significant economic benefits for the area.
鈥淥ur region鈥檚 wonderful scenery and the excellent support services and skilled freelancers which we can provide are all proving to be key factors in attracting increasing numbers of film and TV productions to the area.
鈥淭his trend is invaluable, acting as a catalyst for the further growth of our tourism industry and Film in 胡桃女神 will continue to work across council services and with key partners to promote 胡桃女神 and Bute as a leading location for the screen industries.鈥