The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol is to get a £692k investment boost from Bristol City Council.

The capital investment will pay for improvements to the site, including new roofs, production offices and IT infrastructure.

Recent productions to film at The Bottle Yard include Poldark, Starz drama The White Princess and upcoming E4 comedy horror Crazy Head.

Fiona Francombe, Site Director of The Bottle Yard Studios said: “The funds will pay for new roofs on three of the Studios’ Tank House buildings, which house our main studio stages. Once these are in place we will work with the Council’s Energy team to install new solar PV panels that will reduce our future electricity costs. We will transform redundant areas of the site into new office facilities to be hired out to the production community, generating further income for the site. We will also install new IT infrastructure to enable Voice Over Internet Protocol, which will be rechargeable to our business tenants.

Councillor Estella Tincknell, Deputy Mayor of Bristol with responsibility for Culture said: “Bristol’s Film and TV industry is a thriving and diverse economy that generates jobs and last year saw inward investment of £16.7 million. The Bottle Yard Studios has become a key cornerstone for this vital sector, working with Bristol Film office to attract high calibre companies from London and the US to make their productions right here in Bristol. We’ve seen an increase in location filming across Bristol, which rose by 65% in 2015/16, and every new production that chooses to film here has brought with it valuable business and employment. The Bottle Yard Studios project has added significantly to Bristol’s credentials as a filmmaking destination and its success is great news for the city. In just six years it has transformed a disused area of South Bristol into a major filmmaking hub, home to a busy creative community of 17 tenant businesses, whilst boosting industry skills, providing apprenticeships and linking up with local universities and colleges to provide a hands-on training environment for students.

Jon Creamer

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