Acute skills shortage threatens British film studios’ production boom
The UK’s £6bn film and TV production boom faces being derailed as an acute skills shortage – from set decorators and special effects experts to accountants – causes delays to shooting schedules and drives up the cost of productions for the big and small screen.
The streaming wars have fuelled an unprecedented boom in demand for content in the battle to attract new subscribers and viewers, with a record £5.6bn spent making blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible 7, big-budget dramas including Bridgerton and reality shows such as MasterChef in the UK last year.
The huge increase in spending – double the figure for pandemic-hit 2020 and £1.3bn more than in 2019 – has put pressure on the deep-pocketed Hollywood studios and streaming giants to fight for studio space to make sure the production pipeline continues to flow freely.
Last week, Amazon’s Prime Video struck a record-breaking deal to lease space at Shepperton Studios, home to productions ranging from Alien to Mary Poppins, in the company’s first long-term commitment to making TV programmes and films in the UK.
The streaming giant joins Disney and Netflix, which already have deals in place with Pinewood, home to the James Bond and Star Wars franchises, and Shepperton, as the race for space continues.
However, behind the scenes of the British production boom a crisis is looming: sources suggest that a shortage of as many as 40,000 workers will have arisen by 2025 – with shooting schedules already affected.
“We are absolutely back and flying,” said Paul Golding, the chief executive of Pinewood Studios, which is also the owner of Shepperton Studios. “I have not in my time seen the studios being used as intensively as they are currently. However, the biggest challenge the
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