Having hosted our Year Three Bristol and South West Reception at the end of October, we began November on a real high. That reception was hosted at the wonderful Square Club, and we'd like to extend a massive thank you to our hub sponsors Facilities by ADF, Netflix and Studio Partner The Bottle Yard Studios for their continued support in the region.
We kept up the pace – delivering our Step Up to Production Management course at Urban Office in Glasgow across the first week of November, followed quickly with our Step Up to Production Accountant course at Arbeta, Manchester, between 18-22 November. Led by PGGB Member and experienced Financial Controller Bex Scott, our cohort found the week memorable, enjoyable and informative. Guest speakers included partners Entertainment Partners, Film Finances, FLB Accountants and 6ft From The Spotlight.
These courses are both part of our Talent Development Fund (TDF), which had its Year Two Reception in November – where we celebrated 50% of the courses taking place in the Nations and Regions. The TDF is funded by Entertainment Partners and Netflix, who we hugely thank for their support.
We were also excited to announce our PGGB Members Travel Bursary in November. If you need some assistance with travel costs to help your professional development - maybe for an interview, training or a film festival - then please do get in touch.
Amongst the Partners who officially joined PGGB this month was Buddha Group – a hugely experienced equipment-hire outfit based in Warrington, North West. Rupert and the team join us having worked with a plethora of productions, and we couldn’t be prouder to have them with us. Buddha work closely with productions across the UK and in their North West home too, where we celebrated the release of both Blitz and Say Nothing, which were facilitated by our partners Liverpool Film Office, a member themselves of Film Offices: UK.
Our Nations and Regions Committees continued to work together throughout November too – looking at ways we could provide value to the sector and our Membership Base. We were really pleased and grateful for the time of both VERSA Studios Leeds and Screen Yorkshire (of Film Offices: UK) who discussed moving forward with members of our Yorkshire Committee – which itself recently welcomed Jenny Clark of Sunbelt Rentals and James Dawson of Loop Talent to its ranks.
On the back of the announcement of BAFTA Scotland 2024 winners, Our Scotland Committee set about planning our next reception in Scotland (watch this space).
It's also worth noting Allison Gardner’s retirement from her position of CEO at Glasgow Film and Director of Glasgow Film Festival. Allison has been a driving force for the good of our sector in Glasgow, and we hope we get one last chance to reminisce during our next Scotland reception in 2025.
Another announcement this month came directly from the support of our committee in Northern Ireland. The Pixel Mill, managed by Northern Ireland Screen, informed us that our members could use their co-working space free of charge. You can read more about that exciting development here.
We were pleased to see PGGB Partner Screen Alliance Wales bringing us news of three one-day courses in November, December and January on Waste Management in the TV Industry. Screen Alliance Wales’ dedication to sustainability is hugely important locally and nationally – and Managing Director, Allison Dowzell, gives her time as Vice Chair of our Wales Committee.
In November, we were also pleased to see BFI’s latest stats, revealing that the total combined spend on film and HETV production in the UK for January to September (Q1-Q3) 2024 was £4.7bn, up 18% on 2023, much of this spend coming across the Nations and Regions. These figures come shortly after the central government budget announcement of £25m investment for Sunderland’s Crown Works Studios – and the recent first-look at Virginia Woolf’s Night & Day, which is shooting in the North East – and an increased tax relief for visual effects in film and HETV. VFX Spending in the UK will attract a net rebate of 29.25% and would be exempt from the overall 80% cap on spending eligible for film and TV tax relief.
And, as we started the month still thinking of our own reception in Bristol just a few days before, we look into December fondly awaiting Filming in England’s final Industry Mixer of the year in the very same city. You can learn more about that here.
