London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

Acute skills shortage threatens British film studios’ production boom

Acute skills shortage threatens British film studios’ production boom

In a golden era for the industry, schedules are being hit by unprecedented demand for experienced crew

The UK’s £6bn film and TV production boom faces being derailed as an acute skills shortage – from set decorators and special effects experts to accountants – causes delays to shooting schedules and drives up the cost of productions for the big and small screen.

The streaming wars have fuelled an unprecedented boom in demand for content in the battle to attract new subscribers and viewers, with a record £5.6bn spent making blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible 7, big-budget dramas including Bridgerton and reality shows such as MasterChef in the UK last year.

The huge increase in spending – double the figure for pandemic-hit 2020 and £1.3bn more than in 2019 – has put pressure on the deep-pocketed Hollywood studios and streaming giants to fight for studio space to make sure the production pipeline continues to flow freely.

Last week, Amazon’s Prime Video struck a record-breaking deal to lease space at Shepperton Studios, home to productions ranging from Alien to Mary Poppins, in the company’s first long-term commitment to making TV programmes and films in the UK.

The streaming giant joins Disney and Netflix, which already have deals in place with Pinewood, home to the James Bond and Star Wars franchises, and Shepperton, as the race for space continues.

However, behind the scenes of the British production boom a crisis is looming: sources suggest that a shortage of as many as 40,000 workers will have arisen by 2025 – with shooting schedules already affected.

“We are absolutely back and flying,” said Paul Golding, the chief executive of Pinewood Studios, which is also the owner of Shepperton Studios. “I have not in my time seen the studios being used as intensively as they are currently. However, the biggest challenge the industry is facing is crew. Building infrastructure, studio space – that can be done relatively quickly when it is needed. But crew, that is much, much harder. We have been talking about this for a long time.”

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series has moved production from New Zealand to the UK.


The British Film Institute (BFI) is in the process of assessing the scale of the skills shortage, at the behest of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and sources say its report will detail an industry facing a crisis when it is published in April.

The skills shortage is not just creating delays to some shooting schedules, it is also fuelling wage inflation as productions fight to secure in-demand crew.

ScreenSkills, the body that represents workers in the UK film and TV industry, says there is a particular shortage in the “squeezed middle” of experienced crew.

“The really pressing problems are at the experienced mid-level, and that is our big focus in the coming year because shortages there are hitting production schedules, causing delays and creating wage inflation,” said Seetha Kumar, chief executive at ScreenSkills.

“All the research we do, and the regular feedback from industry who sit on our skills councils and working groups, [tells] of skills gaps and shortages across the board – from production coordinators and managers to editors, script supervisors and accountants.”

There is rising concern that the skills shortage could have an impact on the quality of British-made productions. ScreenSkills’ research has found that crew are being promoted to meet demand before they are ready to handle a more senior role.

There is also the growing practice of what is termed “show-jumping”, where crew that are in particularly hot demand leave a production before it is finished because of the offer of better-paid work.

For now, the growing skills shortage has not led the UK to lose out to other countries as a location for making Hollywood blockbusters and crown-jewel content for the streaming giants. Amazon is due to start shooting the second series of its $1bn-plus small-screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings in the UK in the coming months. Amazon made the surprise decision to move filming from New Zealand, the home of all previous Lord of the Rings and Hobbit productions, to the UK last August.

“It is great that the UK continues to be seen as a great place to make film and television and that there has been such growth, not just in production spend but in the scale and ambition of what is being made,” said Kumar. “But skills shortages are the biggest risk to continued growth and we think there is an urgent need for an injection of funding. There is no quick fix to this.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
×