• Hit BBC crime drama filming second series across City Region
• Combined Authority supported first series through LCR Production Fund
• Time, The Responder and Help also among high-end shows supported by fund
• Led to 19 awards – including 4 Baftas and 2 Emmys
• Created 800 jobs and 56 trainee roles
• Film and TV industry added £150m to City Region economy

Mayor Steve Rotheram went on set with the cast and crew of ‘This City Is Ours’ to hear how people are benefiting from the region’s booming film and TV industry.

The Mayor caught up with location crew, props masters, make-up artists, costume designers and actors working on the hit BBC crime drama during filming at a restaurant in Liverpool’s Chinatown.

The visit followed the release of a report revealing how the City Region’s film and TV industry is boosting the economy and creating well-paid jobs. The report also highlights the transformational effect of Combined Authority investment through its £2.8m LCR Production Fund.

The City Region has seen 1,607 productions arrive on set over the past five years. With its diverse architecture and film friendly environment, it is attracting high-profile productions such as BAFTA-winning dramas ‘Time’ and ‘The Responder’ as well as Hollywood productions including ‘The Batman’, ‘Clayface’ and ‘Heads of State’.

Already the UK’s most filmed area outside London, record growth has seen Liverpool City Region become the leading film and TV hub outside of the capital adding £150m to the local economy and creating more than 5,000 jobs. It is also nurturing the next generation of talent – many born and bred in the area.

Locations Trainee Laura Whitley said she had wanted to be in film and TV from a very young age.

“I remember just being captivated by it. I had to go to London for my first job – I remember they said they couldn’t put me up and I said I didn’t care; I just wanted a stepping stone into the industry. I used what I learned there to move back here and I got a job on ‘Andy and the Band’ which was filmed in Wirral. It meant that I could stay at home, be close to my roots and work in the city that I love so much.”

Laura is not alone in wanting to remain in her home city and the number, range and scale of feature films and scripted television now being made in the city region is providing the opportunity to do just that.

Props Master Bobby Brown told the Mayor that using local people to crew productions is important for skills development.

“I’m from Wavertree and we’ve got such a pool of local talent in the city in terms of cast and crew.

“I love working in my city and shooting in Liverpool. Having more filming taking place here is only ever going to be a good thing. Our architecture allows us to be anywhere. We’ve been Gotham City, and whenever there’s a period drama – like one I worked on a few years ago, ‘Munich’, where a property in the Georgian quarter was the Prime Minister’s house, this is absolutely the place to be. I can’t talk the city up enough!”

The Combined Authority’s £2.8m LCR Production Fund, introduced in 2019 and delivered by the Liverpool Film Office, has had a transformational impact by driving growth. It has funded ten productions including series one of ‘This City is Ours’ (Sean Bean, James Nelson Joyce, Jack McMullen), ‘Help’ (Stephen Graham, Jodie Comer), ‘The Responder’ (Martin Freeman, Emily Fairn), ‘Time’ (Stephen Graham, Sean Bean) and soon to be released, ‘A Town in Nova Scotia’ starring Bill Nighy, which is the first feature film supported by the fund.

Backing those productions has led to 19 industry awards including four BAFTAs and two International Emmys, and what began as a fund to attract productions, has developed to become an engine for screen sector development, stimulating the growth of production hubs, creating more than 800 full time equivalent jobs and 56 trainee roles in all six of the City Region’s boroughs: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

Mayor Rotheram also discussed the future of the industry with crew members of ‘This City is Ours’ including plans to transform the former Littlewoods building into a world-class film and TV campus. Costume Designer Bene Sebuyange, who is also an artist, would love to see it come to fruition.

“I’m hoping that the Littlewoods site will become a hub for film, so we can keep more filming communities and the industry in the city.” She said. “It would be an amazing opportunity particularly for those coming up in the sector wanting to achieve that training and experience in film that they currently don’t get unless they’re willing to go down south.”

The Depot – two purpose-built 20,000 ft² sound stages off Liverpool’s Edge Lane – has already massively enhanced Liverpool’s production capacity, generating £29.1m in GVA (Gross Value Added) for the local economy, but development of the former Littlewoods site is the next chapter for the City Region’s Film and TV industry.

The Littlewoods Creative Campus Project will create the UK’s Next Generation Production Hub; a future‑fit, AI‑enabled and skills‑driven campus for film, TV, gaming, music, immersive technology and education The project is expected to create 3,200 new jobs and generate £170m GVA, while providing education and training for young people in one of the UK’s most deprived areas. TV Producer and Hat Trick Productions co-founder, Jimmy Mulville, from Liverpool, is now part of a group working with Mayor Steve Rotheram and industry experts exploring options.

Remediation and restoration works on the landmark site have been completed, and while the Combined Authority has so far committed £17m to the development, completion of the scheme will require millions of pounds in funding. The Mayor, City Region leaders and the Liverpool Film Office recently met with government ministers to discuss further investment in a bid to move the vision for this iconic site forward, so watch this space…