The UK saw a record amount spent on high-end TV and film production in 2021, according to latest figures from the British Film Institute.
The combined spend by film and high-end television production (HETV) during 2021 reached £5.64 billion, the highest ever reported and £1.27 billion higher than for the pre-pandemic year 2019.
Key highlights of the report include:
- Film production reached £1.55 billion, 3 per cent up on 2020
- High-end TV production topped £4.09 billion, nearly double pre-pandemic 2019 levels
- Of the £409 billion spent on high-end TV, £737 million from increased number of ‘film’ productions made for streaming platforms
- Inward investment and co-production spend on film and high-end television in the UK reached £4.77 billion, double the spend in 2020
- UK domestic (independent) film production spend was £221 million, a 39 per cent increase on 2020
- UK domestic HETV production spend reached £648 million, 32 per cent higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels
- UK animation television programmes generated £73 million spend; 67 per cent contributed by UK domestic programmes
April to June was the business part of the production year with £2.29 billion of film and high-end television production spend, the highest three-month period for film and HETV spend on record, outstripping £1.54 billion generated July to September 2019.
Ben Roberts, BFI chief executive said: “The record-breaking level of film and TV production in the UK revealed today is good news for our industry and the UK economy and demonstrates the speed of the sector’s recovery.
“The groundwork for further growth is underway with expansion of studio spaces and production hot spots across our nations and regions, and working with industry to build up the skilled workforce that we need to meet demand and stay on top of our game. Government support for production with the screensector tax reliefs and the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme have played an important part in the industry’s growth and recovery,” he added.
The full report is available to download here.
