It’s lights, camera, action for Scotland’s film industry, which is booming in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as fewer productions point their lenses overseas.
Filming for the new Star Wars movie is the latest blockbuster to take place in Scotland. A crew will be flying into the Highlands to capture shots of the landscape.
Work will begin in December and is expected to last for three days, although details of the plot for the upcoming movie are being kept under wraps.
Heading north in the past few weeks alone have been hit television show The Grand Tour, with Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, a new travel programme featuring Joanna Lumley and Don’t Rock The Boat, featuring a dozen celebrities, including politician Tom Watson, Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis, supermodel Jodie Kidd, Love Island winner Jack Fincham and Shaun Wallace, of The Chase.
Outlander fans are also looking forward to a reunion between some of the stars of the show as Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish appear in new travel documentary series Men In Kilts, which will see them travel across Scotland.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins is currently being filmed on the island of Raasay, off Skye, with celebrities including Kerry Katona, Vicky Pattison, James Cracknell and Kieron Dyer.
Scotland’s film and television industry has benefited from restrictions on travel to many overseas countries, as well as the impact that quarantining has on both time and costs.
A Highland Council spokesman said: “It is particularly welcome to see an increase in interest at the moment as many productions are unable to film overseas and are looking for different and high-quality locations in the UK.
“The Highland Council’s film office welcomes a range of productions who in turn bring significant economic benefits to the area as they use local facilities and services.”
Bafta-winning Scottish director Norman Stone, who is married to TV presenter Sally Magnusson, said the pandemic “might prove a big boost to the Scottish film industry”.
“Scotland has world-class locations,” he added. “Within 30 minutes of Glasgow you have all kinds of locations, including the city itself, for example. Nobody would have wanted this pandemic, but one spin-off could be a re-invigorating of our film industry.”
However, with the international nature of the industry, Scotland is not immune to the problems of working in the pandemic.
Filming in the Highlands of a major new movie starring award-winning Scottish actor James McAvoy has been put on hold after one of the crew tested positive with Covid-19.
X-Men star McAvoy, 41, and British actress Claire Foy were due to start filming last week in Lochaber on a remake of the French thriller, My Son.
The crew is based at the Ballachulish Hotel, in Lochaber, which was placed into lockdown following the discovery of the Covid case.
It is understood the case is connected to one of the last members of the film crew to arrive, who is believed to have travelled from France.
Earlier this year, Scottish actor David Tennant’s upcoming drama Around The World In 80 Days became the latest series to suspend production in the wake of the global pandemic.
Shooting on the adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel was under way in South Africa when it was halted in March with just one episode completed.
It is due to resume in Romania this month.
Creative Scotland said it is continuing to receive “strong international interest” from film-makers.
“Scotland’s competitive film and TV funds, world-renowned talent, crews, facilities and locations and the UK’s attractive tax breaks continue to drive strong international interest in Scotland as a filming destination,” said a spokeswoman.
Recent productions include BBC1 drama Vigil, starring Suranne Jones, which is currently filming in Glasgow.
Outlander is gearing up to restart production on series six and Bollywood production Bell Bottom recently used locations across Glasgow.
Lockdown viewing hits that were shot in Scotland include BBC1 series The Nest and Netflix film Eurovision.
No Time to Die, the latest in the James Bond series, also filmed on location in the Highlands last year.
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