THE NORTH

Screen Yorkshire, the agency responsible for Yorkshire and the Humber area, has helped attract several projects to the region this year.

They include Miramax's Brideshead Revisited, which filmed scenes at Castle Howard; Mark Tonderai's Hush, which shot around Sheffield in September and October; and Working Title's Wild Child, starring Natasha Richardson, which filmed in Harrogate, Haworth and Robin Hood's Bay.

Brideshead director Julian Jarrold looked at other locations but was swayed by the fact 'we could create these great religious murals in our new rooms (at the castle)'.

To attract feature productions, Screen Yorkshire combines logistical and locations support with its own investment strategy, from an annual budget for production finance of $2.5m (£1.2m) which represents a significant increase from the $675,000 (£330,000) it had to invest in 2005-06, and has been applied to a variety of projects.

Brideshead Revisited's $20m (£10m) budget, for instance, received $500,000 (£250,000) from Screen Yorkshire.

Andrew Craske, Screen Yorkshire's head of communications, also highlights the county's variety of locations (from urban centres such as Sheffield to the rural landscape of the Yorkshire Moors), its resources (offering the only 35mm film lab outside of London, for instance) and its proximity to London.

'Yorkshire offers untouched rural locations that you just couldn't find elsewhere,' says Steve Harvey, unit manager on Wild Child.

The region is also attracting Bollywood film-makers with Vikram Bhatt set to shoot the love story 1920 at Bolton Abbey and Allerton Castle.

Meanwhile, North West Vision, which covers Manchester, Liverpool and Cumbria, is working to attract international productions. Chris Moll, head of funds at North West Vision, says: 'Locations are a key driver in attracting films, especially the variety,' pointing to the use of the Lake District for this year's shoot of Miss Potter.

'And the North West has the most significant centre of drama production outside London, largely through television. Film-makers recognise the advantage of crews with a grounding in TV, because they shoot faster.'

Key agencies: Screen Yorkshire, North West Vision Contacts: Andrew Craske, andrew@screenyorkshire.co.uk, (44) 113 294 4410 Chris Moll, crism@visionandmedia.co.uk, 0870 609 4481