The biggest contributor to this figure was the major film production, World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, which brought £3.33million to the city’s economy when on location for 17 days in Glasgow last summer.

Filming involved around 1200 cast and crew when World War Z was in the city and the various costs included hotel stays (8,500 bednights), local extras and location costs, which included the transformation of Glasgow city centre into Philadelphia.  

Other productions which had a notable economic impact on Glasgow during 2011 included Cloud Atlas, starring Halle Berry, Under The Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson and the television production, Young James.  Together they generated almost £5.5million.

A further £2.2million was spent by low impact productions - the one or two day shoots which make up most of the productions that Glasgow Film Office deals with.

Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “Alongside the great deal of excitement and enjoyment that films such as World War Z and Cloud Atlas brought was a tremendous economic boost for the city.  The hard work of Glasgow Film Office and all the other council staff involved with the productions that come to our city has most certainly paid off, with over £20million coming into our economy.  Such a figure underlines the financial importance of attracting film, broadcast and advertising productions to Glasgow.”

Glasgow Film Office (GFO) is the city’s film commission, offering a free service to all productions (features, television, commercials to short films and music videos) wanting to film in Glasgow.  GFO works closely with other council services, Strathclyde Police and productions to ensure that filming activity has minimum impact on local residents and businesses while delivering the maximum economic impact. 

Since its inception, GFO has supported a host of award-winning British films, such as Red Road as well as large scale international productions. 

Over the last eighteen months Glasgow has welcomed the following major film productions: World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, Cloud Atlas, with Halle Berry, Under The Skin, with Scarlett Johansson, the current production of Filth, with James McAvoy, as well as Peter Mullan’s Neds, Perfect Sense - starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green - and The Decoy Bride with David Tennant.

Glasgow is the centre of the film and television production industry in Scotland, and will usually attract approximately half of what the industry spends in the country.  

Gerard Butler was named Glasgow Film Office Ambassador in 2009 to help raise the city’s profile and demonstrate its capability as a production base.  13 organisations signed up to the Glasgow Film Partnership in 2011, including Glasgow Style Mile, Merchant City Initiative, and BAFTA Scotland making a total of 49 film partners.

For more information on the Glasgow Film Office, please visit www.glasgowfilm.com.

A major film production in the city can only help to boost Glasgow’s international profile and attract both more visitors and film productions to Glasgow.  Research suggests that 20% of visitors to Scotland say that seeing the country on film or television was important in their decision to come here on holiday.

Glasgow’s distinctive Victorian architecture and grid system has proved a vital attraction to many location managers over the years, with World War Z and Cloud Atlas following other films such as House of Mirth.  With more than 530 registered locations in GFO’s database, the city can serve all types of productions.

GFO recorded 726 filming days in 2011, of which 53% were from indigenous productions. There are 9,000 employed in the film and television industry in Scotland. 

Glasgow Film Office received 311 location enquiries in 2011, which resulted in 225 productions being shot in the city.  46% of productions assisted were TV projects, 7% features, 14% commercials, 6% short films and 26% miscellaneous projects, ranging  from ‘corporates’ to stills shoots.