Hollywood of the North

WITH BATMAN, TOMMY SHELBY AND JOHN CENA, THE CITY IS BECOMING A SILVER SCREEN HOTSPOT THANKS TO THE LIVERPOOL FILM OFFICE

- By DAVID HUMPHREYS

THERE'S one place where you can find Batman, Tommy Shelby and Taylor Swift and it’s not in a fever dream.

Over the past six years, Liverpool has become a hotbed of TV and film production, securing huge projects from Netflix, Apple TV and Warner Bros.

This is alongside groundbreaking projects here at home and it's far from a fluke. Since 2019, more than 1,600 productions have said “This City Is Ours” and set up shop here, generating £150m for the local economy.

At the heart of it all is the Liverpool Film Office. The 35-year-old organisation has gone from being what its head Lynn Saunders described as a permit granting authority into part of the production crew.

The Liverpool Film Office is part of Liverpool Council and is funded by the city budget, earned income and external grants.

Its new report published last week revealed how more than 5,000 jobs have been created through the city’s burgeoning TV and film sector since the introduction of the Liverpool City Region Production Fund.

Launched in 2019, the fund was established to increase the number, range and scale of feature films and scripted television. It provides discretionary investments of up to £500,000 per project.

To date, it has invested £2.8m, with fund-supported productions receiving more than 60 award nominations and 19 industry awards, including four BAFTAs and two International Emmys.

In that time, Liverpool has become the most filmed area in the UK outside of London. Lynn explained how the city - with a film heritage including Chariots of Fire and the 51st State - has put its stamp on the industry.

She said: “As we speak, there is over £100m worth of production happening. We've been doing this a long time now.