Record filming in London

Film London has released figures showing there’s been record amounts of filming going on in London, with a 42% increase in the last three years. Last year there were 38 film crews working around London every day, equating to 13,802 days of filming in London’s 33 boroughs over 2006, and as Film London points out the London Local Authorities and Transport for London Bill, currently going through Parliament will make it legal for the first time in the UK to close roads for the express purpose of filming.

Around 100 feature films used London as a location last year including 28 Weeks Later, Blood Diamond, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Golden Age and Hot Fuzz. Not surprisingly Westminster, with so many of the most recognizable buildings and landmarks, saw the most shooting days with 2,310, although boroughs like Hackney, Islington and Wandsworth are starting to be used as locations so a different view of London might start appearing in movies.

Here are the top ten London boroughs in terms of days filmed in them in 2006.
1. Westminster – 2,310
2. City of London – 1,254
3. Lambeth – 1,149
4. Camden – 1,043
5. Kensington & Chelsea – 920
6. Southwark - 890
7. Wandsworth – 800
8. Hammersmith & Fulham – 525
9. Islington – 478
10. Hackney – 476