Creative England, Hertfordshire County Council and all ten of Hertfordshire’s District and Borough Councils have joined up to sign a Film Friendly Charter.

The county has been a destination of choice for filmmakers for some time now, and the new charter aims to consolidate this, encouraging further investment from foreign productions, providing more local jobs and facilitating long term income from screen tourism.

The charter will aid local authorities and production companies – including TV – by offering assistance with location advice, available crew and the permitting procedures.  

According to Creative England, a single feature film can bring up to £42,000 a day to the local economy; the organisation also reports that around £8.6m was spent in the county last year as a direct result of location filming.

Hayley Armstrong, production liaison manager at Creative England said: “Filming makes a significant contribution to Hertfordshire’s local economy and the county has a long association with some of the biggest names in Film and TV. By signing the Film Friendly Charter, Hertfordshire is giving a clear signal to the industry that the region is film-friendly. It also shows a strong

commitment to encouraging the facilitation and development of film and television in the county.”

“Just last year, we supported 79 productions to film on location in Hertfordshire including 19 feature films, and I look forward to seeing this number rise in the next few years.”

Location manager Jonah Coombes, who worked on the recent high-grossing Paddington – some of which was filmed in Hertfordshire – said of the county: “I really relished the opportunity to bring location and studio filming of Paddington to Hertfordshire because there is always such a collaborative, open minded and can-do approach.”