Official figures for 2020 show a £2.84 billion spend in the UK for film and high-end TV production, despite months of suspended filming due to Covid-19. This figure shows a drop of just 21% on the 2019 high, despite disrupted production schedules over five to six months. The year started strongly with record production spend for the first quarter – but by the end of March production was suspended. Some post-production and VFX were able to continue, but physical production only started to renew from mid-July.
However, the industry showed a strong recovery in the final quarter of 2020 generating a healthy £1.19 billion spend for film and high-end TV, the third highest 3-month spend on record.
Inward investment and co-production spend on film and high-end TV in the UK reached £2.36 billion, which represents 83% of the entire production spend, underlining the UK’s global reputation as the world-leading centre for film and TV production.
Domestic UK films generated a spend of £119.5 million, which represents a 43% decrease from 2019.