Action! How the film and TV industry could mean big business for Shropshire

Such visually-attractive sights on film and television screens can have more inquisitive viewers reaching for their phone to google what the setting is for a particular movie or show.

And it's on that premise that, last summer, a company called Film Shropshire was launched – to improve links with the industry and, in turn, help boost the county's economy, attracting more tourists from across the UK and beyond.

Mark Hooper, head of Visit Shropshire – the official tourism website for the county, and Sarah Creighton head up the bureau and, still in its relative infancy, the agency is proving a big success.

It's already played a key role in helping support the team behind Steven Knight's version of Great Expectations to Shrewsbury.

Episodes of The Apprentice and Hunted, plus a raft of short films have followed. And there's optimism of things taking off further in the new year, with the launch of the Film Shropshire website.

For Mark, it's been an exciting challenge to get Film Shropshire off the ground.

"I came into the industry from a side angle really," he said. "I run Visit Shropshire, a not for profit organisation, but I have worked in tourism for years.

"I saw a statistic through Visit Britain which said one in five people decide where they are going to go on holiday because they have either seen a place as a film or TV location, or it's appeared on screen in some other form.

"And then I thought, if you bring it back to your own travels, quite often you have seen the place you visit somewhere. There's something in your head where you know what it looks like."

And so, Mark felt the county was missing a trick, a chance to sell itself more.

"I looked into reason why there wasn't much filming in Shropshire and it was because there wasn't a film office," he said.

"That meant that if a location manager or producer or any level of crew within a film's production team wanted to get in touch with Shropshire, they'd have to piece it all together themselves.

"So they would have to apply to Shropshire Council to close roads, you'd have to track down a private owner of a home for the location itself, find accommodation and catering, everything really.

"I discovered a lot of location managers were saying 'it's easier to look somewhere else' where there was a film office set up for them and they had the local knowledge and contacts. So Sarah and I thought 'let's set up a film agency'".

Shropshire Council has been supportive of the agency since its launch in May.

"The county doesn't have to have a film office and so the council could have said they wanted zero involvement but they have been in full support of it," said Mark.

"Our website will launch at the start of January with direct links to the road closure department. Having that relationship with the council is important and we can work together to alleviate any problems.

"The new site will act as a full directory so it will allow private individuals from Shropshire to list their properties, which might be available for use in filming.

"It will also be a directory for location managers and producers to use so they can access local suppliers."

That message, of local suppliers is something that Mark says the move is all about, from a business and tourism perspective.

"All of the productions we have had this year have used local accommodation, for example," he said.

"In the past, crews may have gone into the Wolverhampton area etc to stay and that wouldn't benefit our local economy whatsoever. You would be closing the road without any benefits.

"So when Great Expectations was filming here, for example, we had people stopping in the Prince Rupert, Drapers Hall, The Abbots Mead etc. We had crew or actors and actresses in most of the hotels in the town.

"The great thing about that is all the money is then going into the local economy because all those people are then eating in the evenings, having breakfasts, grabbing coffees. That is what this is about, supporting the creation of inward investment really through a sector we have never really delved into."

He added: "People still talk about Christmas Carol being filmed in Shrewsbury, which was great, but that was a fair many moons ago. We want to capitalise on the present and we have the likes of Netflix and Apple TV now.

"They didn't exist years ago and all of those channels need content so the whole of the industry is huge for the whole of Britain. It's something we can really jump on the back of.

"Moving forward, we hope there will be opportunities for everyone, whether a person who owns a house, whether you own a cafe or you are an accommodation provider. Hopefully it will benefit the whole county.

"And we are also working with colleges now as well in the hope that students can be given work experience and first-hand experience in that industry. Imagine getting work experience in your home county on a production – that would be incredible!"

Now, as we enter 2023, and with talks under way on a number of secret projects, Mark says Film Shropshire is keen to show the county is open and people want the industry here.

"We have had a lot of short films being made and taken to film festivals around the world for investment purposes," he said.

"We have had a lot of interest in all locations, some have been road based, some in 1980s offices or period buildings.

"We are having a few more conversations right now but we are sworn to secrecy at the moment.

"The key, moving forward, from a tourism point of view will be to get out there and make sure people all over the country know where something like Great Expectations has been filmed.

"The story might be set in London but we need to make sure we tell the story of the filming right here in Shropshire."