William Garrido
Edinburgh (United Kingdom), 24 December (EFE).- Home of “Trainspotting” and “Braveheart”, Scotland’s diverse beauty illuminates the great cinematic productions of the moment, welcomes “Outlander” to its Highlands or inspires JK Rowling of Harry Potter with its iconic Victoria St. in Edinburgh, also a place of persecution in “Fast and Furious”.
The versatility of its topography and urban fabric means that, for example, the city center of Glasgow becomes Gotham in “The Batman” (2022), or the setting for the last adventure of the legendary explorer Indiana Jones, next summer. .
“There’s never been a better time to shoot in Scotland,” a spokesperson for Screen Scotland, the body that promotes the Scottish film industry, told EFE, confirming the golden age that the sector.
“The Avengers”, “Da Vinci Code” or James Bond in “No time to die”, on the big screen, as well as “Peaky Blinders” on the small one, have chosen in one way or another the Scottish enclaves.
The value generated by the industry exceeded £560m (€649m) before the pandemic, according to its latest study, which sees the potential to “double” it to one billion in 2030 “if the level of investment continues”. director, Isabel Davis.
These numbers come after a positioning effort at major film festivals such as Berlin or Cannes, explain the organization, as well as a “close collaboration” with the British Film Commission in London and with the film mecca, Los Angeles.
One of its attractions, the series “Outlander” -in its seventh season-, and its impact on the industry show that “Scotland has what it takes to create top-level successful television”.
THE EDINBURGH ATTRACTION
At the same time, they provide specific funds to large ‘impact’ productions and a large catalog of regional locations, with their main venues in Glasgow or Edinburgh, both cradles of ‘Trainspotting’ (1996), adds their spokesperson.
Danny Boyle’s film version of Irvin Welsh’s novel “needed no support. It was a small production, but its impact continues today,” Rosie Ellison, head of the commission in Edinburgh, told EFE.
‘Years later we still get requests from people to register’ in the city because of ‘Trainspotting’, reveals Ellison, who are in the business of ‘attracting and facilitating registration in Edinburgh and towns in the region’.
The producers “provide a description of the type of location they are looking for”, and receive a response “with lots of suggestions, photographs and information on the different options” offered, he points out.
“The historic center of the city (…) attracts the big Hollywood productions,” says Ellison, because “it takes you back to the Middle Ages. The pavement and buildings continue as if it were in the 16th century,” he describes at the foot of St. Giles’ Cathedral, on the emblematic Royal Mile, where the Scots greeted Elizabeth II of England this year.
The same enclave attracted the Marvel universe in “Avengers: Infinity War” or “Fast and Furious”, the most famous car saga of the big screen.
Those responsible for that saga “were looking for various avenues to shoot chase scenes”, and used up to 18 locations, including the iconic and colorful Victoria St, which in turn is also “the inspiration for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley Ellison says.
Another of Edinburgh’s attractions is access to “hills, coast, countryside, beaches, mountains, castles…within a ‘half hour’s drive,'” he lists.
This was the case with ‘The Avengers’, whose creators were ‘interested in the city center, but also a fishing village’ to recreate New Asgard in their film ‘Endgame’.
Local businesses also benefit. “Hotels, restaurants, nightclubs…they all have surprise guests” generating around £13.8m (€15.81m), according to the latest report.
“The bigger the film, the more it exposes the city,” which contributes to Screen Scotland’s ultimate goal, acknowledges Ellison. EFE extension
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