The Scottish Government’s Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the Production Growth Fund has generated £17.5 million for the Scotland’s economy — returning £10 for every pound spent.
The fund is a combination of Scottish Government and National Lottery Funding, administered by Creative Scotland, and provides an incentive for major film and TV producers to base their work in Scotland.
T2: Trainspotting, Churchill and The Loch were among the first productions to benefit.
Hyslop said: “Film and TV producers spent a record £53 million shooting in Scotland in 2015 – an increase of £30 million in the last ten years.
“One crucial initiative that has attracted major productions to base themselves in Scotland has been the Production Growth Fund, of which £1.75 million had been awarded at the end of March.
“These awards have resulted in a spend in the Scottish economy of £17.5 million – more than ten times the value of the awards granted.”
Hyslop confirmed the Scottish Government will allocate an additional £250,000 to the Production Growth Fund, taking its total to £3.25 million since the fund was set up in December 2016.
Piers Tempest, producer of “Churchill” which received £250,000, said: “With the support of Creative Scotland and the Production Growth Fund, we had an extremely positive experience filming Churchill in Scotland, and it really felt like the natural place to bring our next film, The Wife.”
Natalie Usher, Director of Screen at Creative Scotland, said: “The Production Growth Fund has proved to be a significant factor in the increase in Film and TV production in Scotland in recent years.
“Alongside continued support through the National Lottery and the amazing work of our Screen Commission and locations network, the announcement today of an additional £250k shows strong commitment from the Scottish Government and is another welcome boost to the Screen sector.”
Productions that were supported in 2016-17 by the first £1.75m allocated:
T2: Trainspotting, feature film: £500,000
Churchill, feature film: £250,000
The Etruscan Smile, feature film: £100,000
Calibre, feature film: £146,034
Hush, feature film: £303,966
In Plain Sight, TV drama series: £250,000
The Loch, TV drama series: £200,000