THE SOUTH

Given its size, crew base and resources, London attracts the lion's share of inward investment, with recent big productions in the city including Warner Bros' Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, which took advantage of Battersea Power Station; sci-fi Franklyn; the on-going Hippie Hippie Shake and the forthcoming Harry Potter film (Film London is in talks with the film's producers).

'Pre-2004, there was a perception that London was difficult to film in,' says Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London, the agency set up in 2004 to facilitate production in the capital.

'What we've done is give some of the major productions a colossal amount of support. A film like The Dark Knight employs around 1,000 staff, the majority of whom are British.'

For its part, covering the counties to the east and north of London, including Essex, Hertfordshire and Norfolk, Screen East can count on its locations proximity to London to attract big productions, as well as the resources offered by Leavesden Studios (where Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince is set to film).

Other projects to have shot in the area include The Duchess and The Dark Knight, which took advantage of Long Cross, a former defence testing ground, now a TV/film studio, as well as Leavesden Studios.

Screen East launched a production fund of $4.7m (£2.3m) this May, with plans to support a minimum of 20 productions until 2008, with individual contribution capped at $1m (£500,000).

South West Screen, however, has not been so lucky on the film front. 'It's been a quiet start to 2007,' says David Shepheard, head of inward investment and locations at the Bristol-based agency, which covers south-west England.

Unlike many of the other agencies, South West Screen lacks a feature production fund.

However the region's impressive locations, including three world heritage sites and 60% of the nation's heritage coastline, attracted Elizabeth: The Golden Age in 2006, to which South West Screen lent logistical support. With discussions ongoing with a handful of studio projects, 2008 is, Shepheard says, 'looking promising'.

Key agencies: Film London, Screen East, South West Screen

Contacts: Adrian Wootton, adrian.wootton@filmlondon.org.uk, (44) 20 7613 7676

David Shepheard, david.shepheard@swscreen.co.uk, (44) 117 952 9973

Michael Lavery, funding@screeneast.co.uk, (44) 1603 776 927