Screen Yorkshire has managed to entice projects starring the likes of Tom Cruise and Samuel L. Jackson in a huge effort to revive the local film industry. The UK offers a generous 34% tax rate to any films or high end TV that decide to film in its countries. Many big companies like Netflix and Paramount have taken advantage of these breaks and Screen Yorkshire has seen it as an opportunity to promote some local talent.
Richard Knight, who’s worked in the industry since 1998, was a guest at Leeds Trinity’s Journalism & Media Week where he spoke about how Screen Yorkshire are “dragging productions out of other areas and bringing them to Yorkshire.” Currently they offer up to £500K worth of funding to projects that decide to film locally in the aim that “for every pound we give, four pound will be reinvested back into the regional economy.” They also run the Yorkshire film office which assists local productions by offering access to their local database of locations, talent and important contacts.
Knight explained how the tax break attracts some of the biggest talent across Hollywood. “If you have an $100 million movie, filming it in California will cost $100 million. If you come to the UK it will only cost you $80 million to film it here.” These tax breaks are said to be a big reason why the British film industry as a whole managed to bounce back after the covid-19 pandemic. During the spring budget 2024 they announced that there would be a larger percentage of tax relief than the year before. They said that the new tax credit is designed to boost the production of UK independent films and support UK talent in films.
According to Knight this also meant that the UK’s TV and film industry was impacted during the Writing and actors strikes in America.
Members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike in the early summer months of last year over a Labour dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Two months later the Screen Actors Guild also went on strike which resulted in a majority of productions across America grinding to a halt. This had a knock on effect on the UK’s productions as many of them starred American actors who were part of SAG.
Knight also touched on how Yorkshire is now offering great alternatives for locations in London. He said: “It’s five times more expensive to film down there in London than it is around Yorkshire. (Hull) is amazing for Victorian London, it’s incredible! It’s got cobbled streets, beautiful old buildings, it’s better for Victorian London than any of London which has all been modernized.”