“We’ve never seen production levels like it. One producer reported a search through 72 first-assistant directors before finding one available candidate, who then quoted a wage 40 per cent above what was assigned in the budget. Low-budget independent films, in the £3m to £6m range, are struggling the most. Enjoying unprecedented demand for their skills, experienced crew can name their price, forcing up the cost of productions, which are already having to absorb the extra expenditure of meeting strict Covid protocols. The UK industry will be lacking 40,000 workers needed to crew productions by 2025, according to one analysis. The combined UK spend on film and high-end television production during 2021 reached £5.64bn – the highest ever reported and £1.27bn higher than for the pre-pandemic year 2019, the BFI reported.īut the skills shortage is now beginning to bite.

The studio near Maidenhead which boasts 54,000 sq ft of stages and a 183,000 sq ft backlot, will be one of the locations for Amazon Studios’ £700m series based on The Lord of the Rings. Threatened with demolition during British cinema’s darkest days, historic sites such as Berkshire’s Bray Studios – the home of Hammer horror in the 50s – are now drawing up ambitious expansion plans, revived by the production gold rush.