BBC Three comedy-drama Boarders filmed entirely in Bristol and the south-west, including set builds at The Bottle Yard Studios, when filming took place last year.

Bristol Film Office supported the Studio Lambert production team, assisting with locations and souring production office space. The agency also liaised closely with the producers to connect it with local crew talent, including Bristol company Latent Pictures which runs a paid-development programme for underrepresented filmmakers.

Around 90 crew members worked on the production per day, 70% of which were regional crew, with more than 55% from Bristol and the South West.

Daniel Lawrence Taylor writes the six-part series, that follows the lives of five talented black inner-city teenagers navigating their way through an alien world – the British public school system.

The main filming site for the series was in Clifton, with other Bristol locations including Ashton Court, Carolina House on Dove Street, Redcliff Hill, Stokes Croft and St Nicholas Market. Further afield in the region, filming took place at Chavenage House near Tetbury and in Weston-Super-Mare.

Line producer, Carleen Beadle-Larcombe, said: “Bristol Film Office were exemplary in helping source locations. There were last minute location changes needed because of weather or cast availability – alternatives options were quickly suggested and things like parking suspensions and road closures were issued quickly and efficiently. In addition Bristol Film Office helped Boarders source last minute Graffiti artists which were needed in order for us to complete filming at a new location.”

Madeleine Sinclair, executive producer for Studio Lambert added: “The premise of the show is about access to opportunity and that was important to reflect in the production and crew. With the help of the Bristol Film Office, we aimed to attract local talent and give opportunities to those from underrepresented backgrounds across the crew. In addition to this, we brought on Latent Pictures, a Bristol-based company working with underrepresented filmmakers, to produce all our ‘behind the scenes’ footage.

“We had a number of ScreenSkills trainees in our HMU, Sound and Assistant Director departments and shadow directors joining us regularly on set. I think it was hugely valuable to the production because we had some really fantastic people and it made for a really interesting and buzzy set with crew from a whole range of backgrounds, who each brought their own different experiences.”

Images via BBC/ Studio Lambert/All Three Media.