Asian News Blog

The top talent in Yorkshire’s TV and film industries met their Indian counterparts to discuss working together in Yorkshire. Screen Yorkshire hosted a lunch for the senior industry figures at one of Yorkshire’s finest stately homes and established film locations, Harewood House.

The event took place as part of the Indian International Film Academy Awards (Bollywood’s Oscars) and was attended by over 50 film producers, locations experts, facilities managers and entertainment bosses from India and Yorkshire. Yorkshire locations were showcased and an expert panel discussion was held to inform the Indian Producers of the advantages of filming in Yorkshire. The Indian film industry is the largest in the world producing over 1000 films a year and is estimated to grow by 18% per annum over the next five years. 50% of Indian productions shoot overseas.

Sally Joynson, Chief Executive of Screen Yorkshire, said: “The IIFA awards have given us a great opportunity here in Yorkshire to showcase the region to the Indian film industry and show them what we’ve got. There are not many regions in the UK, or the world, that have such a diversity of locations which could suit Indian productions. Combine this with the skilled and talented crew we have, and the excellent transport infrastructure, and we really do have a county where Indian Producers could do business.”

David Lascelles, owner of Harewood House and a film producer, said: ”We’ve hosted a number of film productions over the years here at Harewood, the latest being Paul Andrew Williams’ The Cottage but we are always looking to work with Screen Yorkshire to bring more productions here. It’s good for the house and for Yorkshire in many ways, film productions bring money into the local economy but in the longer term can promote the county worldwide to tourists. Today has been a great opportunity to showcase Harewood House as a film location to the Indian film industry.”

Mukesh Bhatt, Indian Producer of over 40 films, said: “Many Indian film producers are not aware of what Yorkshire has to offer as a filming location so today has been incredibly beneficial for them. They’ve had a sample of the many beautiful locations Yorkshire has and been able to talk business with the key players in the Yorkshire industry. I think this will be the start of many joint Indian and Yorkshire film productions.”

Three Indian features have shot in recent years - Harry Putter (Dream Town Productions, 2005), which shot in Richmondshire; Natasha (Inspired Movies, 2004) opting to film in Craven and Keighley; and Provoked (Eros International, 2005) which filmed in Scarborough prison. More recently a number of productions have been looking into filming in the county and one has already been confirmed: Quick Slip Me a Bride – produced by Talking Lense.