Surge in demand puts pressure on the production industry

For most of 2020 and this year, the Coronavirus restrictions in place have led to members of the public spending their days indoors. Boris Johnson was clear during lockdown, people were not to leave their homes unless for essential purposes and were required to work from home where possible. The result? People were looking for ways to entertain themselves indoors and it goes without saying, binge watching was top of the list.

It should come as no surprise; it has recently hit the headlines that the production industry is facing a shortage in equipment as all struggle to keep up with unprecedented demand. The producer of Stephen Daldry's upcoming BBC Film Together, Guy Heeley, has spoken out on the matter saying "At one point we were looking to bring in our electrical package from eastern Europe because there was not a single lamp or generator in London or anywhere near...".

However, after a turbulent year, the demand is welcomed by many production companies who are just looking forward to doing what they do best. Kaye Elliott, the director of high-end television at ScreenSkills, has described it as the “perfect storm” saying “you’ve got production that was supposed to happen that’s now finally happening, you’ve got demand skyrocketing, and the UK is a fantastic place to make content”.

Even with lockdown lifted and restrictions starting to ease, it is expected that the current trend will continue. After all, human beings are creatures of comfort. It's an exciting time for the film industry and we are looking forward to what comes next.