London set for up to £9.5bn investment boost over next five years

Latest 19 Jun 2024

News Story

New figures out today [Wednesday 19th June] estimate that £9.5bn of investment in London is expected to be generated over the next five years as a result of Film London support for film, TV and animation production. This in turn would add over £1bnin additional GVA for London over the same five-year period to 2028-29.

Coinciding with Film London’s 20th Anniversary celebrations launched this morning, the figures modelled the future impact of Film London activities from 2023/24 to 2028/29. The projected maximum total value of investment in London over the five year period was over £9.5bn, with an additional GVA for the capital of over £1bn. This builds on figures for the previous five years, which found that over £4bn was invested in London as a result of Film London activities, whilst the organisation also delivered ground-breaking new initiatives. The projections provide further encouragement for the capital’s screen industries, one of the UK’s most exciting economic growth sectors.

Film London today marked two decades of successfully innovating, nurturing talent and championing London’s screen industries, and outlined its future vision, at a celebration event at The Standard hotel in King’s Cross, London this morning.

Film London Chair Daniel Battsek and Chief Executive Adrian Wootton OBE were joined by The Crown Producer Andy Harries, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries Justine Simons OBE, and BFI’s Chief Executive Ben Roberts. Producer Barbara Broccoli, filmmakers Mike Leigh and Gurinder Chadha and Working Title’s Eric Fellner were amongst guests present to mark the landmark anniversary, as well as beneficiaries of Film London support from across its various schemes. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, actor Riz Ahmed, Oscar-winning Producers Jeremy Thomas and David Puttnam were among those who also provided messages of support.

I’m proud London is a global centre for film, TV and animation, with this successful industry helping to drive forward our economy. By making it easier for filmmakers to shoot here and nurturing the next generation of diverse talent, Film London has helped to attract significant investment from across the globe over the last 20 years. I look forward to Film London continuing to build on this success, helping to build a better, more prosperous London for everyone.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan

As today’s figures and 20 year landmark demonstrate, Film London punches far above its weight in terms of impact. Crucially, Film London’s work and vision is always anchored in talent. Whether the vivid creativity of its Artists Moving Image Network, the impressive Equal Access Network schemes like Breaking the Glass Ceiling, or the boundary-pushing work of their Talent Development and Production, Film London is constantly innovating to stay relevant, raising the profile of areas otherwise under the radar. As the industry continues to evolve, I’m excited to support Film London’s leadership to make the most of the new opportunities, open them up to a genuinely diverse range of talented creatives, and keep London and the UK at the centre of the global film, TV and video games industries into the next 20 years.

Daniel Battsek, Chairman of Film London

I’m personally extremely proud to be celebrating two decades of supporting our capital’s screen industries, talent and culture. These latest investment impact figures demonstrate the huge value of our screen industries to London and the UK’s economic health and social well-being. They underline the ongoing impact and relevance of Film London as the capital’s screen agency, supporting and growing film, TV, animation and video games sectors in London. But chiefly, they reflect the collaborative effort, vision and innovative spirit that characterises Film London. From our earliest days, Film London accepted the challenge from industry, opening up the visual vocabulary of London available to film-makers. Collaborating with partners throughout, we’ve taken risks to solve problems, fundamentally rewriting how film and television is regarded in the capital. It’s thanks to Principal funders, the Mayoralty and the BFI, that we’ve been able to sustain this work over two decades. And that spirit of innovation is firmly steering Film London’s future direction. As a cultural charity, our focus is on sustainable growth, looking after city and society. With the introduction of the new Independent Film Tax Credit, London and the UK are on course for real, game-changing economic opportunities. I’m utterly committed to ensuring that our next 20 years are focused on increasing access and representation even further for the benefit of our diverse communities, harnessing the challenges of the changing technology, and championing new generations of story-tellers and audiences in London.

Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of Film London

The next 20 Years of Film London: Investment in film, games and London’s creative future

Film London has played a central role in ensuring London is renowned as a global hub for film, television, VFX, animation and video games. Constant innovation, from archive film to video games, is merging worlds, forging new directions for London and the UK’s screen culture, industries and audiences.

In coming years, with continued and stable investment from main funding partners the Greater London Authority, BFI and Arts Council England, Film London will continue to enhance its offer to the capital’s industry, creatives, audiences and citizens, including:

Film London Impact: Past, Present, Future

Championing ground-breaking talent and supporting industry success:

  • Film London’s Production Finance Market (PFM) has helped find financing for emerging and talented filmmakers and titles including Tish (PFM New Talent Strand 2021); Last Swim (New Talent Strand 2020); the hard-hitting If The Streets Were On Fire team – Alice Russell and Gannesh Rajah won two awards at the BIFAs in 2023 (2019 New Talent Strand); and Boiling Point - Producers Hester Ruoff and Bart Ruspoli brought it to the New Talent Strand in 2019, it won 4 BIFAs, were nominated for 7 more, and also won 4 BAFTAs.
  • The next PFM is being held on 8/9 October during BFI London Film Festival
  • Since it started in 2007, 5 Film London artist filmmakers nominated for the Jarman Award have gone on to win the Turner Prize.
  • The 17th Film London Jarman Award will be held in November 2024.

Over the last decade:

  • Film London’s PFM has introduced 647 projects to financiers, studios and sales agents, with the total value of deals reaching over £254 million.
  • 255 films either commissioned or funded by Film London were released.
  • London Screenings has helped UK sales companies to achieve over $50 million in the last 10 years.
  • The 20th edition of the London Screenings is being held next week [25 June] in central London.
  • Distributor Slate Days has seen 224 distributor slates presented in the last decade.

Film London will continue to nurture and champion London’s freshest talent, across an ever-growing range of disciplines:

  • Continuing the extremely popular Production Finance Market, including the PFM New Talent Strand for feature films below £1m.
  • IP market and showcase UPstream will nurture those finding new ways to realise their stories and bring them to life on our screens
  • Film London Labs will continue to offer the most insightful first-hand experience, guidance and masterclasses on a range of relevant themes
  • FLAMIN will continue to invest, support and promote artist film makers from across London and the UK.

As a cultural charity, Film London’s focus will be on growing sustainably rather than growth at all costs, looking after city and society:

  • Film London’s Equal Access Network, started in 2017 and supported by the Mayor of London, now has over 9,000 members from all London’s communities, including those previously under-represented.
  • 1,008 total job opportunities have been created since 2017, when the Equal Access Network started.
  • Film London London’s Screen Archives have partnered with The New Black Film Collective on the new Undocumented project, with the support of the BFI, awarding National Lottery Funding. Undocumented aims to address the lack of Black stories in screen archives through a public programme to deepen community engagement
  • Film Hub London is working to build more diverse audiences and help cinemas programme more diverse films
  • Film London has introduced talent programmes for young black-identifying animators through FLAMIN Animations
  • Through its own Diversity and Inclusion strategy and programme, Film London is also focused on changing the organisation to ensure it truly reflects the city it serves.
  • Environmental sustainability remains at the core of Film London’s values. From the ‘Grid Project’ to promoting steps to Net Zero for the organisation and the wider industry, Film London is pressing ahead with local measures to address the global climate emergency.

Building on Games London success:

  • In 2015, Film London worked with the Mayor of London and Deputy Mayor Justine Simons to establish Games London, and create the London Games Festival, with the involvement of UKie.
  • In 2016, at our inaugural London Games Festival, we welcomed 35,000 attendees. This year, over 100,000 people attended.
  • The London Games Finance Market, the only UK market for independent developers, generated £10m in potential new business in 2016. This year, it is on track to have generated a pipeline of investment, publishing deals and sales worth in excess of £30m for participating businesses.
  • Games London now supports 50 Video Games start-ups a year through our ‘Accelerator’ programme. Putting talent into the ecosystem, building London and the UK’s economy and culture.

Future-proofing with the right skills:

  • Alongside the other regional clusters, Film London’s skills and training work is helping address crucial skills gaps and diversify London and the UK’s workforce.
  • Film London has established a new Skills department, securing funding and mandates to run the Mayor of London’s Creative Skills Academy in 2022 and, in 2023, a three year mandate to run the BFI’s Metro London Skills Cluster supported by National Lottery Funds.
  • These are founded on industry education partnerships, making its training, placements and mentoring opportunities relevant and valuable to both trainees and industry.
  • Film London has trained 2,333 people through the Creative Skills Academy during its three years of operation (2022/23/24)
  • Film London will continue to ensure its training features the very latest video game engine and tech skills, as well as tailoring programmes to support creators through challenges like Artificial Intelligence.

Projections of the Future Impact of Film London

Today’s figures were drawn from an Economic Impact Assessment of Film London conducted by independent economic analysts at BOP Consulting, an international consultancy and research practice specialising in culture and the creative economy.

Modelling the future impact of Film London under both optimistic and pessimistic scenarios, the projections of total value of investment in London over the 5 year period to 2028-29 ranged from £4.4bn on cautious projections and over £9.5bn on optimistic projections. The Additional GVA range spanned between £496m and over £1bn [£1074.3m] respectively. Additional GVA refers to GVA generated through this inward investment, which would not otherwise be generated in London, and so is additional to London's economy. Additionality rates are assumed to be consistent with previous surveying of Film London beneficiaries by BOP Consulting.

The figures are based on a number of assumptions, including that a stable and consistent level of funding support for Film London is maintained over the next five years, allowing Film London to maintain an equally consistent level of support as over the previous 5 years for film, TV and animation production.

2019/2020 – 2023/2024: The figures for the last five years are over £4bn [£4179.3m] investment in London, and £469m GVA for London, respectively.