London (UK), Jan.27 : This year's Oscar nominations may not have seen many British names but the film industry has broken all production records by jumping 13 percent from last year.
On January 26, the British Film Institute released statistics of how more and more movies are coming to Britain.
Statistics, as reported by The Guardian, show that over 200 feature films started shooting in UK last year, which contributed to a total spending of GBP 1.6 billion, taking a huge leap from last year.
This is the highest number since the starting of record in 1994. Of all the 200 movies, 48 of them were funded outside the UK, accounting for almost 85 percent of the total investment.
The chief of the industry body of BFI, Adrian Wootton said, "2016 was a banner year for the UK's film and TV industries, which attracted record levels of inward investment, and some of the world's most ambitious productions." He later adds, "Our industry offers the complete package in terms of talent, skills, facilities, VFX expertise and competitive tax reliefs, so it's no wonder international film and TV clients continue to make the UK their destination of choice." Wootton, who also heads Film London, an agency which seeks and attract investors to the capital, also hosted Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, when superhero ensemble 'Justice League' was filming there.
The filming of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' in 2014 was done at Pinewood. The decision of the movie filming in UK was given credit to the eagerness to base movies in Britain. The film took GBP 1.6bn worldwide, while the spin-off the movie, 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story', made GBP 806m.
The movie was also shot in Pinewood. Many other big budget movies that set up their camps in UK last year included 'The Mummy Reboot' which stars Tom Cruise and Spielberg's sci-fi adventure 'Ready Player One'.
None of these movies are studio based. Steven Spielberg is mostly shooting for his next in Birmingham. In London, last year, mayor Sadiq Khan teaming up with Film London did a study for the creation of a new studio in London.
He said, "To sustain and grow this success story, it is critical that the capital gets significantly more studio and production capacity to maximise the opportunities for film-making." Yet more and more regional movies are coming into the picture, Danny Boyle's Trainspotting sequel, 'T2' was mostly shot in Edinburgh.
While, Judi Dench's award-winning period drama 'Victoria and Abdul' is also being shot across the country.
This year, we saw less Oscar nominations for the Brits (12), compared to last year (29). With more and more movies coming to UK, we can expect a lot of names in the coming years..
Source: ANI
