Recent years haven’t been easy for any business, but few industries have had it as tough as film and TV production.
Covid lockdowns brought an immediate shutdown to almost all projects, and then, just as things got back on their feet, a writer’s strike for six months during 2023 ground production to a halt once more. Yet despite this upheaval, one Scottish firm has been steadily growing to become a leading global name in production. Founded by married couple Marie and John Owen in 2006, LS Productions has soared from a turnover of £300,000 a year to a whopping £20 million in 2023.
Marie admits that she started the firm as a bit of a ‘hobby’, having taken five years out of her career as an air stewardess to raise her three young children. Her husband John was a well-known fashion photographer, and Marie initially began Location Scotland (as it was known then) to give her some “focus and stability” amidst the “chaos of trying to raise tiny children”.
“John said that not enough people were coming to Scotland to do production shoots, so why didn’t we start our own company?” she explains. “It was very much an idea of highlighting how beautiful Scotland was, traditional Scotland but also a more ‘real’ Scotland. We started a small location library, which is now an expansive one today, 18 years later. It began aimed at fashion clients but soon grew to encompass other industries.”
With three children under five – including twins – Marie acknowledges there was a lot to juggle in the early stages of the business. But, as she explains, her relaxed start to entrepreneurship prevented her from getting overwhelmed. “It definitely surprised me how big the business has got. The benefit of a naïve start was I just thought of it as ‘having a go’. If somebody had showed me a crystal ball of how much the business would grow, I would have worried I couldn’t manage it.”
But the struggle of growing a family and a business didn’t compare to the upheaval that came along in the spring of 2020. Covid “changed everything overnight” for LS Productions, who lost more than 80% of their turnover within a year. It was a “struggle” to keep up with changing legislation, with Marie and John spending their savings to keep the business afloat.
“The staff wanted me to give them guidance, but I didn’t know much more than they did. It was a real test of leadership. Even post-COVID there was a huge demand for producing content, and then not enough people to produce it, because a lot of freelancers had left the industry. People couldn’t pay their bills, so skilled workers went and got jobs anywhere that they could. And then just as things picked up a bit, Hollywood went on strike last year, which stopped a lot of work. The economic challenges for running a business are really tough right now.”
These challenges have not stopped Marie and John from expanding their business – LS Productions now have staff across Edinburgh, Manchester, London and even overseas in Malta. They work throughout film, fashion, TV and entertainment, even producing two music videos for pop megastar Harry Styles, and are contemplating partnering with another firm to grow the business further.
“My husband and I are the only shareholders and there’s no other investment in the business. I’m starting to open my mind to the idea that it’d be good to share the journey with somebody with a bit more capital, and more industry connections, to get bigger and bigger.” Two of Marie’s children now work within the business (in the “most junior positions”, she is keen to stress) but she has no plans to move into a less active role herself.
“I’ve got a lot to give,” she explains, “and I feel so lucky to live in Edinburgh and get to do what I do. Sometimes I think it’s a bit harder getting your voice heard, or getting taken seriously, when you are from Scotland. “People love our accent, but they make some assumptions about Scottish businesses. Some people think if you’re not from London or New York, then you’re not as capable, so as a small country we need to shout loudly about what we are good at.
“It’s not always the easiest, but Scotland is a great place to run a business in many ways.”
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