Cornwall production hits £5m as regional film commission wins £400,000 boost

Screen Cornwall has released its first economic impact figures, revealing that film and TV production was worth more than £5m to the county’s economy in 2022. The figures  were calculated by Olsberg•SPI using Creative England’s Local Economic Impact Toolkit. 

The film commission, established in 2019, will also receive a funding boost of nearly £400,000 to propel screen-sector growth, from the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

In 2022 in Cornwall, there were 422 filming days and 101 pre-production days, generating an estimated Gross Value Added (GVA) of £5,040,000, an 8% increase on the previous year.

Productions included Beyond Paradise, Strike: Troubled Blood, Malory Towers series 4, Doc Martin, Fred & Pete’s Treasure Tales and feature film Edge of Summer.

Screen Cornwall’s managing director Laura Giles said: "For the first time, we have a reliable estimate of what film and TV production is worth financially to Cornwall's economy. £5million is a significant contribution for our rurally dispersed sector.

"Momentum continues to grow for both location filming and independent production, so this funding boost comes at an important time. A diverse and robust talent pipeline is vital to developing a healthy screen ecosystem, so people are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to become the UK’s most vibrant rurally dispersed content production region."

Cllr Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council portfolio holder for economy, added: "We know from Screen Cornwall's research that there are more than 270 companies active across film, television, video production, equipment hire and digital games in Cornwall, and we want to foster the growth of those businesses and the screen sector as a whole.

"At the same time, we want to celebrate our unique cultural heritage by encouraging more indigenous Cornish language filmmaking and this project will help achieve all those aims."

This article originally appeared on TheKnowledge.