24 comes to London as tax break lures big-budget television shows to Britain Pacing, bloodied, through the streets of Vauxhall in London, counter-terrorist agent turned fugitive Jack Bauer is about to save the world from destruction once again. Debuting on UK screens on Monday night, the show will see the agent sprinting through Charing Cross station, crashing lorries in Holborn and fielding explosions in Trafalgar Square – a world away from the LA streets and California deserts that usually provide a backdrop to the pulse-racing TV series 24. Yet while the London setting will hold an added thrill for 24s devoted UK fans, it also signifies a trend, as an increasing number of US television shows choose to move their multimillion-pound productions to British shores. Almost exactly a year after tax relief was introduced for high-end programmes, offering a 20% rebate for shows that cost more than £1m for an hour of television, the money injected into the UK economy by such big-budget shows is now almost outstripping films. Figures revealed by the British Film Institute this month show that over the past year patronage from US and other foreign TV studios has injected £224.7m into the British economy – more than half of all television spending this year. 24, which has been filming in London since January, with a budget per episode of several million, is one of dozens of big-budget US productions now filming here. Joshua Sasse filming Galavant at Cosmeston Lakes in south Wales. Photograph: Huw Evans/Rex Features Charles Moore, partner at UK media law firm Wiggin LLP and one of the UKs leading entertainment lawyers, lobbied for the creative tax credit for television, introduced last April. In 2012, Moore helped form the TV Coalition, made up of some of the biggest names in UK production, to lobby the government. He described the magnetic appeal of the new credit for American production companies, and predicted many would follow the lead of 24 and Game of Thrones, which is filmed in Northern Ireland. We can see that an enormous amount of investment has come into the UK, particularly from US production companies, compared to virtually none the year before, said Moore. In one year, the TV industry is really thriving as a result. Shows like 24 are here as a direct result of the tax credit, the first time a US network has brought one of their shows to the UK in decades, and its been an incredibly successful operation. Whats also important is that these TV productions are more likely to film in the slightly smaller facilities or warehouses than the large studios like Pinewood, which is really great as it brings these lucrative productions out of areas like London and into regions in Wales, Ireland and Scotland. As well as bringing in foreign investors, it has also kept a lot of UK shows over here which would probably have moved overseas. Before they introduced the tax credit Parades End was filmed in Belgium for tax purposes and The Devils Whore was shot in South Africa. Sophia Myles and James Caviezel in Outlander. Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features Outlander, currently filming near Glasgow, is another multimillion-pound US production taking advantage of the tax credit. Commissioned by American network Starz, the lavish sci-fi drama – based on a book series that has sold more than 20m – has cost upwards of £50m in 38 weeks of filming and is predicted by many to become the next Game of Thrones. Other productions jumping ship from the US to the UK include Galavant, ABCs fantasy comedy series starring Briton Vinnie Jones, which was shot on location in Bristol and Wales, and The Royals, the first scripted series by US channel E!, starring Liz Hurley. The boom has put Britain at the creative centre of some of the worlds most widely-watched shows, as the global appetite for cinematic-style television thrives. The latest season of 24 is set to cause controversy on both sides of the Atlantic as it grapples with issues such as surveillance, government whistleblowers and drone policy. Speaking to the Guardian before the season nine debut, Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays terrorist analyst and Bauers long-term ally Chloe OBrian, said filming in London had given a new edge to the show. It was great to bring the show out of LA, she said. Filming in London has been brilliant as it has given the whole show a real international feel. It took some getting used to but now I really feel like it has made the show feel more on the pulse of all these topical storylines, more dynamic and moody. Instead of the usual 24 episodes, the new season, entitled 24: Live Another Day, will have only 12, although it will still be set in real time. Even in a new city, it does still feel like the old 24 with the pacing and making audiences sit on the edge of their seat, Rajskub said. It starts with Jack Bauer as a fugitive and my character, Chloe, working for a company similar to WikiLeaks, leaking classified information. And of course, there is a plot to kill the US president. Tourists tune in to UK Britains live music industry generates billions of pounds in tourism, new figures show. A report released by campaign group UK Music and VisitBritain found that music tourism – domestic and international – generated £2.2bn between 2012 and 2013. About 6.5 million fans flocked to stadiums, concert halls and fields across the country last year for events. London was named music tourism capital, attracting 1.8 million music tourists. However, Manchester and Scotland were also shown to be popular with overseas fans, with concerts and festivals drawing in 45,000 and 26,000 overseas visitors respectively. Jo Dibble of UK Music said: Britain attracts thousands of people because of our music history. But we also attract thousands as we create some of the best music in the world. Hannah Ellis-Petersen
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 20:10:47 +0000
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