Making a film in London to get more expensive

The government have withdrawn tax breaks for moviemakers filming in Britain unless the films they’re producing are ‘culturally British’. What a load of nonsense and what a way to make sure big film companies go elsewhere. I’m not sure what they mean by ‘culturally British’ but if its more crap like Bridget Jones then world’s better off without it.

To qualify for tax breaks the films storyline must be set in the UK. Don’t the guys who come up with these laws realise that blockbuster movie series like Star Wars and the Indiana Jones trilogy were made at Elstree Studios in London and recent ones like Batman Begins have been made at Pinewood Studios also in London. These films had no British storyline but I’m sure they employed a hell of a lot of local people and put money into the London economy.

Britain and London in particular should be bringing in as many movie projects as they can to use the locations and studios here. This is the kind of blockheaded move the French typically make and its no surprise the move is EU inspired. One thing you can be sure of, film producers won’t be changing their film’s story and plot just to make it UK centric.

One side benefit of films being made in a place like London is fans come to view the film locations. Film London have produced a line of Movie Maps, available from tourist information centres, Cineworld cinemas and cafes in central London, some can be downloaded from their website.