Hollywood companies paid Bucks Council £47k to close roads for blockbusters and major tv series

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Road and footpath closures for filming in Amersham, Marlow, Wycombe and elsewhere have seen Buckinghamshire Council paid tens of thousands of pounds.

The unitary authority was paid a total of £47,491.55 to shut down roads in the 18 months from April 2023 to October 2024, a freedom of information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has revealed.

Film crews working on projects ranging from British TV series to Hollywood blockbusters have taken over the county’s streets and rights of way for days at a time.

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Netflix, Warner Bros, Disney, Universal and Amazon MGM are among the companies to choose Buckinghamshire for their productions over the last two years.

Part of Netflix megahit Heartstopper has been filmed in Bucks (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images for Pride In London)Part of Netflix megahit Heartstopper has been filmed in Bucks (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images for Pride In London)
Part of Netflix megahit Heartstopper has been filmed in Bucks (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images for Pride In London)

“Buckinghamshire is a super attractive location for TV and film production,” said Ed Gemmell, a member of the council’s transport environment and climate change committee, told the LDRS.

“With our quintessential countryside, close proximity to London and our high-level facilities you can see why film crews and production companies come to our county.”

The council’s cabinet member for culture and leisure Clive Harriss added: “The council charges production companies for road and pavement closures to cover the costs these closures incur and as such the charges do not generate significant revenue for the council.

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“It is right that these costs are covered by the film companies and not by the local taxpayer, when we want to continue to do all we can to encourage filming in the county, such are the positive benefits to Buckinghamshire.”

Pierce Brosnan is among the A-listers to recently film scenes in Buckinghamshire. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)Pierce Brosnan is among the A-listers to recently film scenes in Buckinghamshire. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
Pierce Brosnan is among the A-listers to recently film scenes in Buckinghamshire. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

One of the highest sums paid to the council in the period was £3,296.90 by Blink Industries for filming in Amersham’s Highfield Close in October last year.

The shoot was for Make That Movie, Channel 4’s new six-part comedy series written by comedian Sam Campbell and directed by Joe Pelling.

Other payments to the council for nearby filming included £2,402 for shutting Latimer Road in Chenies in February for a crew working on upcoming British thriller, I, Jack Wright.

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Amersham was also used by a company called Richmond Street Productions, believed to have been set up to shoot Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.

The Netflix adaptation of Richard Osman's novel has been filming in Buckinghamshire and stars Helen Mirren. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images)The Netflix adaptation of Richard Osman's novel has been filming in Buckinghamshire and stars Helen Mirren. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images)
The Netflix adaptation of Richard Osman's novel has been filming in Buckinghamshire and stars Helen Mirren. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images)

Richmond Street Productions paid the council £1,466.05 to close footpaths near Amersham School for filming last year.

Meanwhile, a footpath near Amersham’s 18th-century Shardeloes country house was also closed in May this year to shoot Universal’s upcoming spy thriller Black Bag, starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender.

Filming was done by Get the Guests, which paid the council £2,186.35, and lists the movie’s director Steven Soderbergh as one of its company directors.

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Other filming over the last 18 months saw the council paid £2,402 to shut Stomp Road in Burnham for Netflix series Heartstopper and a total of £6,606.05 by ITV-owned Monumental Television to close Oak Tree Avenue, Institute Road and a footpath for Marlow Murder Club.

Netflix’s Thursday Murder Club – an adaption of Richard Osman’s novel of the same name – was also shot on location in South Bucks.

The council was paid a total of £10,280 to shut roads in Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross and Little Missenden for the forthcoming film starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, David Tennant, Richard E. Grant and Ben Kingsley.

Even Wycombe has had its share of Hollywood magic, with footpaths near the town believed to have been used to film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Willem Dafoe and Danny DeVito.

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Dombey Street Productions, a subsidiary of Warner Bros, paid the council £1,466.05 to shut rights of way around Wycombe for Blue Hawaii, which is believed to be the working title of Tim Burton’s comedy horror sequel.

Other filming payments to the council were for the closure of a road and footpath in Hambleden for Amazon’s Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie, starring Emma Thompson and the closure of a road towards Henley for Sky’s historical drama Mary & George.

Councillor Gemmell, who represents the Hazlemere Ward, said: “In fact I was campaigning in Hambleden during the general election when Emma Thompson was there filming Three Bags Full. Sadly, I did not bump into her as she is a determined environmentalist!”

The independent councillor said that although the amounts of money paid to the council for road closures seemed ‘incredibly low’ for companies with vast budgets, filming brings benefits for the county and its residents

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He said: “Productions employ local people, use local services such as hotels and restaurants and our wonderful towns and countryside gets nationwide and often international exposure.”

Councillor Harriss said Buckinghamshire’s ‘thriving’ film industry was a ‘real success story’ for the county and a significant contributor to the local economy.

The cabinet member also hailed the Buckinghamshire Film Office the council launched in 2022 to help attract new films and productions to Bucks as well as liaising with them when they are on location in the county.

He added: “We are delighted so many big companies choose Buckinghamshire to film their productions.

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“We offer a huge variety of filming locations and facilities, and our rolling landscapes, pretty villages and historic towns are a particular attraction to film companies.

“When production companies choose Buckinghamshire, they support many local jobs and businesses – one small example is that we see local café’s put on extra staff if there is filming close by, such is the uptick in business and income for them during that period.”

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