FilmFixer is delighted to announce that it will manage Suffolk’s film office on behalf of all seven district councils and the county council – ensuring Suffolk too participates in the benefits of England’s film boom.
FilmFixer director Karen Everett, also local to Suffolk, says, “We are very aware of big film productions passing from London through Suffolk to shoot elsewhere in England. Now, we are looking forward to letting those productions know they should stop right here – putting Suffolk firmly on the film map.”
FilmFixer is dedicated to promoting local facilities and employing local suppliers – the first of whom will be local designers, as FilmFixer rebrands and relaunches the film service as Screen Suffolk.
“Our main focus is to ensure Suffolk residents and businesses benefit directly from the inward investment of filming,” says Karen. “We encourage all those who’d like to engage with the industry to contact us. From caterers, hotels, removalists and boat rentals to equipment suppliers, creatives and production crew of all kinds, we are gathering the contacts we’ll include on our industry-facing website. We will always introduce locals to productions looking for support.
“Please email us at info@screensuffolk.com in the first instance.”
“This county offers the perfect combination of film service infrastructure, creative talent, and fantastic locations – along with its convenience to London. We are very much looking forward to promoting all this to the global film industry, in particular through our network of 12,000 industry professionals.”
FilmFixer currently manages the film office service for one third of London councils – attracting every big Hollywood-style production in the UK into client boroughs for the past five years. Suffolk makes a compelling addition.
“The county has so much to offer by way of beaches and waterways, fens, airfields, WWI trenches, historical treasures, pristine villages and fantastic abandoned buildings,” says Karen. “The production space available is far more affordable than in London. And Suffolk is able to offer its unique locations at short notice – which is immensely valuable to the industry.”
In a time of dramatically reduced government spending, FilmFixer’s client councils have found film production spend a valuable revenue source.
In Suffolk, FilmFixer is committed to attracting at least 100 days of filming into the county in its first year, and plans to quadruple this by 2020.
A further committment to Suffolk is resident engagement, ensuring locals benefit directly from the filming going on at their doorstep. FilmFixer has a long history of ensuring productions hire local talent – in front of and behind the cameras, provide work experience opportunities to young people, and offer set visits to local schools.
All productions are required to consult and involve all residents and businesses directly, before proceeding with any filming. A 24-hour telephone number enables residents to telephone at any time if they are concerned about filming going on in their neighbourhoods.
A new website will further involve residents in local filming, providing updates and opportunities.
For the film industry, online services will include a locations library – making the search for Suffolk gems even easier.
And the company’s FilmApp software platform makes booking locations simple for productions – particularly from mobile devices. FilmApp will also unify all applications across Suffolk’s seven District Councils and the County Council.
FilmFixer will formally launch Screen Suffolk to the global film industry at London’s annual prestigious production gathering, Focus, in December.
Karen Everett says, “Last year the number of productions filming in the English regions increased by *37 percent, amounting to £93 million on-location spend and over 7,700 days of work for crew.
“It’s vital that Suffolk attracts a share of this and directly benefits residents as a result.”
Recent big-budget productions filmed in FilmFixer locations include Jason Bourne, the Big Friendly Giant, Now You See Me 2, Bridget Jones’s Baby, Wonder Woman and Brad Pitt in War Machine and Five Seconds of Silence, just to name a few.
*(Creative England statistics including regional Film Offices)