The Bristol Film Office has released new figures to illustrate the flourishing state of film and TV production in the region, with a hefty contribution of nearly £17.5m to the city’s economy in 2014-2015.  

With The Bottle Yard Studios playing a huge part in the area’s attraction to producers, the city and its environs has hosted some flagship BBC dramas, including Sherlock, Poldark, Wolf Hall and The Casual Vacancy, as well as ITV’s BAFTA-winning two-parter The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies and Channel 4’s gentle comedy The Mimic.

International dramas to have been drawn to the region include Galavant, the fantasy musical which filmed both its pilot and the series at the Bottle Yard Studios.  

Film gets a look-in too, with the upcoming comedy heist movie from MoliFilms starring Bernard Hill, Golden Years, having shot in the city earlier this year (see photos.)

The figures make for interesting reading, with a 10% increase on filming licences issued: the film office granted 406 in the year 2014-2015. The actual figure for total inward investment from productions using Bristol is a whopping £17.412m.

Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson said: “I’m delighted to see Bristol’s growing success as a hub for TV and film production, which continues to deliver consistent levels of investment, fuelling a strong new era of film making in the city. Having not had a full-time drama based here for some time now, this is a particularly encouraging achievement.

“With an established production hub at The Bottle Yard Studios and a responsive support service from Bristol Film Office, we’ve developed a comprehensive film making infrastructure making Bristol a national location of choice. Amongst the many benefits generated are employment and skills development, raising Bristol’s profile across the world and vital investment in this city’s cultural and creative landscape.”

Natalie Moore of the Bristol Film Office remarked: “£17.5m is an outstanding contribution to our local economy, and proof of why it makes sense to support film and TV production in Bristol. The figure is fractionally lower than the 2013-14 figure of £19.6m, but this degree of fluctuation from year to year is normal given that certain productions are required, due to their storylines, to film more days on location outside the city than others. Overall the figures point to a consistently strong and reliable level of production in the city, which is great news, and the calibre of productions we attract to Bristol has certainly been rising in the last 12 months.

“Our robust track record is testament to the skill of industry crew and companies we have here in Bristol. When a production contacts the film office, we always know that we’ll be able to source the skills or facilities th