U.K. Film, High End TV Production Spend Forecast to Hit $9.3 Billion by 2025, Further Squeezing Skills Shortage

variety.com:

K.J. Yossman Film and high-end TV production spend in the U.K. is predicted to hit up to £7.66 ($9.4 billion) by 2025, according to new research commissioned by government-backed industry body ScreenSkills.That is an annual average growth rate of 7.3% over the next three years.While that’s good news for the industry, it will also impact the already critical skills shortfall.

The research suggested over 20,000 new full-time crew will need to be trained up to meet demand.Training of both existing workforce and new recruits will require an investment of £95.1 million to £104.3 million per year.

Over a three-year period, however, it would provide an ROI of £4.56 billion in terms of economic return. Already, the screen industry generates the equivalent of 122,000 full-time jobs.

Last year ScreenSkills offered £12.91 million worth of financial support while the BFI offered £4.3 million of National Lottery funding between 2017-2022 to support skills training.Studio space is also an issue, with the research finding that only 2.7 million more square feet is due to be made available in the next 3 years.Carried out by consultancy Nordicity and accountants Saffery Champness LLP, the research is titled “The Forecast of Labour Market Shortages and Training Investment Needs in Film and High-end TV Production” and was compiled by interviewing major production companies as well as analyzing existing research and taking into account other factors such as COVID recovery and the HETV tax relief.“The data in this report will help us all plan sensibly to ensure the U.K.