Councillor Jeremy Newmark, Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, was a keynote speaker at this week's UK Screen Investment Summit dinner, where he highlighted the remarkable growth of the UK's screen industry and called for a more integrated approach to investment, infrastructure, technology and talent. He urged the sector to move towards a more integrated offer rather than simply building more studio space, making the point that “concrete depreciates, connections compound.”
At the dinner, held in advance of November’s UK Screen Investment Summit, investors, sector leaders, regional and central government gathered to discuss how the UK can maintain its global leadership in film and television production amid rapid advances in technology, evolving investment models and increasing international competition. Discussions focused on growth, AI-driven production, workforce development and the wider economic benefits generated by the sector.
Cllr Newmark said :
"The figures have come in. £6.8 billion of film and high-end television production in the UK last year, £2.8 billion of it feature film. The highest record ever. Eighty-five per cent of it is inward investment.
“The world choosing Britain.
"In Hertfordshire, the Film Office's best year on record: £29 million of local filming spend, more than double the year before."
Recent production milestones include Wicked: For Good, filmed in Borehamwood and in the top three at the British box office, while HBO's Harry Potter television series is currently filming at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden. Meanwhile, Sky Studios Elstree continues to progress plans for ten additional sound stages.
Alongside this growth in studio capacity, major investment is also being seen in digital infrastructure, with significant data centre developments progressing across the county.”
Cllr Newmark welcomed recent government initiatives such as the inclusion of film and TV as a named priority in the Creative Industries Sector Plan; the £75 million Screen Growth Package; the Independent Film Tax Credit; the Visual Effects uplift and 40% cut to business rates for studios until 2034. He praised the new government for carrying each of those pledges forward.
Cllr Newmark continued:
"Hertsmere's £4 billion Equinix campus at South Mimms sits just a few miles from three major studios.
"In Hertfordshire, the data centre and the sound stage are the growth story. Data, media and technology are no longer three industries. They are one."
In a further step to strengthen the county's screen sector, Hertfordshire Futures has approved a new Independent Screen Production Fund. Later this month, Hertsmere Borough Council and Liverpool City Council are expected to sign a landmark screen corridor agreement, creating a strategic partnership between their regional screen economies and enabling them to present a joint proposition to international investors.
Cllr Newmark added:
"The future of screen production is about more than studio space alone. It's about connecting investment, technology, infrastructure and talent into a single growth ecosystem.
"Hertsmere is proud to be helping lead that conversation and ensuring our communities continue to benefit from the jobs, skills, investment and opportunities that this thriving industry brings."