UK

UK studios were again humming with activity in the first quarter of 2025. Plenty of familiar projects were rebooting, and the reliable financial incentives and excellent local technicians were again pulling in the US majors.

On the big-budget front, back-to-back Avengers movies are shooting for Marvel at Pinewood Studios. Chris Hemsworth, Sebastian Stan and Paul Rudd star in Avengers: Doomsday alongside Robert Downey Jr, and this is followed quickly by Avengers: Secret Wars.

Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps filmed last year at Pinewood, while DC Studios’ Supergirl: The World Of Tomorrow, directed by Craig Gillespie, has been shooting at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden, where the Harry Potter TV series is also expected to shoot. Season four of Netflix’s Bridgerton has been filming at Shepperton Studios, and season three of HBO’s House Of The Dragon was back in front of the cameras at Leavesden. Season five of Apple TV+ spy show Slow Horses is due out later this year with season six already commissioned.

The final series of Outlander shot in late 2024 at Wardpark Studios in Cumbernauld. Fears that its conclusion would leave a big hole in production schedules have been allayed by work beginning on prequel series Blood Of My Blood. PBS Masterpiece is behind a new version of The Forsyte Saga, which will be broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK, while Oscar winner Yorgos Lanthimos has been making his latest feature Bugonia on a specially constructed set near High Wycombe, northwest of London.

Looking further ahead, there is strong optimism the James Bond movies, now overseen by Harry Potter and Paddington producer David Heyman with Amy Pascal for Amazon MGM Studios, will continue to shoot in the UK.

Announced in the government’s spring 2024 Budget, IFTC allows eligible films to claim close to 40% in relief. Designed to help UK indie producers, it came online April 1, 2025. The British Film Commission and British Film Institute are receiving huge numbers of inquiries about the incentive amid anticipation of what Wootton calls “a really large boom” in independent movies shooting in the UK.

Studios are adapting to the expected surge in production of lower budgeted films. For example, The Pinewood Group announced a new “Indie Film Hub” aimed at providing affordable studio facilities for independent pictures. Three Mills, Elstree, Bottle Yard and others are also expected to offer deals for independent production.

In what was hailed as a boon for the post-production sector, the restrictive 80% cap on qualifying costs for the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) was lifted in the October 2024 Budget. Companies can also now claim an enhanced 39% rate of AVEC on their UK VFX costs (up from 34%).

The collapse in early 2025 of MPC, one of the UK’s most respected VFX outfits, was a stark reminder of the financial uncertainty facing even the longest established UK film companies. But MPC’s problems were blamed on management decisions made by its parent company Technicolor. Other UK VFX companies — including Framestore, which worked on Wicked, Paddington In Peru and Gladiator II — have been thriving. It is acknowledged the UK’s VFX sector has the capacity to deal with multiple big series and TV dramas.

Wootton predicts there will be a significant surge in UK co-productions as international producers from France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere look to work with British partners.

US investors and producers are also coming into the UK market in increasing numbers, looking to access the tax credit. Having filmed spy thriller Black Bag in London last summer, Steven Soderbergh returns with art forgery comedy The Christophers while fellow US actor/director Josh Duhamel is also shooting comedy Preschool in London.

Los Angeles-based Daemon Hillin executive produced Craig Roberts’ killer squirrel comedy horror The Scurry, which shot at Dragon Studios in Bridgend and will be distributed by True Brit Entertainment in the UK. “One of the reasons I love shooting in the UK is that there are talented and trustworthy producers you can work with that understand the lay of the land,” says Hillin, citing James Swarbrick of Water & Power, producer of Wales-set film.

Public support for the industry remains strong both at a national and local level. In March, mayor of London Sadiq Khan confirmed investment of $9.5m (£7.3m) in Film London over the next four years, covering film, TV, animation and games. Some of this backing will go towards the Production Finance Market held during the BFI London Film Festival in October, which brings together UK and international producers and financiers.

Infrastructure and crews

The UK continues to invest in skills and training. The BFI announced in 2023 it was investing $12.4m (£9.6m) of Lottery funding in skills developments. In summer 2024, it published a crew mapping and forecasting study to identify skills gaps. In late 2024, ScreenSkills published a five-year strategy to address gaps and foster sustainable growth.

“On [The Scurry], I really saw the quality of UK crew members and how efficient they are. Coming from an independent perspective, if I’m going to choose where I shoot a movie and the different types of hurdles I must jump over and how I put together the financing, the one place I want to go is the UK,” says Daemon Hillin, executive producer.

Memories remain fresh of the post-pandemic production boom when there was such intense competition for crews that salaries shot up, top technicians were hired on long-term deals by streamers, and indie producers struggled to find crews. One familiar complaint during this period was that technicians were being promoted too quickly in roles for which they had not been properly trained. The aim is to stop this happening again.

The British Film Commission currently lists more than 50 studios across the UK. These range from huge facilities such as Pinewood to much smaller sites. Most are keen to be part of an expected indie production boom following the launch of IFTC and will cut deals to lure in producers. The UK has top-level crews and some of the world’s best VFX companies. Certain positions — production accountants, being one — remain in relatively short supply, but ScreenSkills and the BFI are working to plug any skills gaps. During the post-pandemic production boom, competition for top technicians was intense and fees rocketed. It is now a more stable environment. 

First contact: Samantha Perahia, head of production UK, British Film Commission samantha.perahia@britishfilmcommission.org.uk

Infrastructure and crews

Wolf Studios Wales is the base for Bad Wolf, the production company in Cardiff set up by Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter. There's also, Bay Studios Swansea, Dragon Studios, Great Point Seren Studios, and Roath Lock Studios. Wales is also home to many production service companies with skilled crews, like those used on Gareth Evans' Havoc for Netflix. 

Travel and logistics

Most filmmaking is concentrated in south Wales. Cardiff is easily accessible by plane, train or road. It is two hours from London by rail and three hours by road. The airport has international flights to much of Europe, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich and Barcelona.

First person to contact 

Kim Warner, head of production, Wales Screen kim.warner@gov.wales

Infrastructure and crews

Scotland has a growing range of studio, build space and conversion opportunities designed to accommodate major feature film and high-end television productions of any scale and genre. 

From Leith’s FirstStage Studios (The Rig, Anansi Boys) to Cumbernauld’s Wardpark Film and Television Studios (Outlander), Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall (Screw) and The Pyramids in Bathgate (Good Omens Series 2), our facilities are conveniently located in and around key production hubs, with excellent access to established crew bases and supporting infrastructure.

Travel and logistics

Studio-based film production tends to take place between Glasgow and Edinburgh, both of which have international airports and are within easy reach of each other. Scotland also boasts spectacular locations, some relatively far-flung. For example, Kristoffer Nyholm’s thriller The Vanishing, starring Gerard Butler and Peter Mullan, was shot in Dumfries and Galloway with support from the Production Growth Fund.

First person to contact

Cheryl Conway, head of screen commission, Creative Scotland cheryl.conway@creativescotland.com

Infrastructure and crews

In addition to the eight-acre Belfast Harbour Studios, Northern Ireland has seen rapid development in its infrastructure. It is home to Titanic Studios, where (along with Belfast Harbour Studios) the live action How To Train Your Dragon for Universal was filmed and Loop Studios (formerly known as Brivtic).

Facilities in Northern Ireland have continued to improve as has the local skills base which can be easily perused via Northern Ireland Screen’s Industry Database, designed to connect indigenous and international productions with local crew, while also spotlighting production companies, screen services, and facilities in Northern Ireland. 

Travel and logistics

Northern Ireland is a compact country that is easy to get around. Belfast has seen huge growth in leisure activities, with many restaurants, nightclubs and hotels opening. Outside the city, plenty of picturesque locations are within easy reach.

First person to contact

Nicola Lyons , head of production, Northern Ireland Screen nicola@northernirelandscreen.co.uk.

In early March, UK newspapers carried alarming reports that Pinewood Studios was looking to scale back TV and film production plans in favour of an “expansion into data centres”. This was reportedly due to a reduction in production activity. However, British Film Commission chief executive Adrian Wootton points out that Pinewood and Shepperton have both already expanded significantly in recent years. It helps that US studios and streamers have made long-term commitments in the UK: Disney at Pinewood, Warner Bros at Leavesden, Amazon MGM Studios at Shepperton.

Meanwhile, yet more UK studio facilities are opening. Eastbrook Studios in Dagenham, east London is now accepting bookings. This 12-soundstage facility is owned by Hackman Capital Partners and The MBS Group. 

“We have a huge amount of studio capacity, and we have a lot shooting,” insists Wootton. “In terms of applications to the BFI certification unit, film inquiries that are coming to us, films that have registered for the film levy under ScreenSkills — all of these indices have gone through the roof. There have been so many film starts in the last five months, undoubtedly triggered by the [new] Independent Film Tax Credit [IFTC].”

The UK’s transport infrastructure is reasonably robust. There are plenty of international airports across the country and a Eurostar service linking the UK with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Public transport access to studios in the London area has been improved by the opening of the Elizabeth Line, a train line stretching from Shenfield in the east to Reading and Heathrow airport in the west.

First person to call

Samantha Perahia, head of production UK, British Film Commission @ samantha.perahia@britishfilmcommission.org.uk