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George Gently comes home - with Northern Film & Media's £3m+ Content Fund
Tuesday 05th January, 2010
The fourth series of BBC crime drama Inspector George Gently will finally be shot in the North East after it became one of five projects to benefit from a £550,000 cash boost from regional screen agency Northern Film and Media and RDA One North East.
Thanks to a £150,000 injection from NFM’s North East Content Fund, independent film and television producer Company Pictures will shoot the next series of Inspector George Gently, which stars Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby and is set in historic Durham, in the North East instead of Ireland where it was previously shot.
Producer Suzan Harrison says: "Company Pictures are delighted to be shooting the new series of Inspector George Gently feature-length films on location in Durham and the North East, where the drama is actually set. The series is written by Peter Flannery (Our Friends InThe North, The Devil's Whore) and Jimmy Gardner (This Life, Cops, Buried). Peter Flannery, who created the series, grew up in the North East. To be able to film the series for the first time where it’s always been set brings a greater authenticity, scale and colour to the production. We feel very much that we are bringing Inspector George Gently home.”
Meanwhile, filming of Joe Maddison’s War, one of very few one-off period dramas commissioned for ITV1 in 2010, will begin filming in Newcastle early in the New Year after its maker Mammoth Screen, previously behind Lost in Austen and Wuthering Heights, was awarded £60,000.
Jon WilliamsDirector of Production & Finance
MAMMOTH SCREEN LIMITED
Mammoth Screen are very excited to be filming our first production in the North East and are grateful to Northern Film and Media for their support in ensuring that we are able to bring this ITV1 prime-time period drama to its natural home. We believe that the north east is a hugely exciting region, we have already successfully secured the directing services of award-winning North Eastern director Patrick Collerton, and we relish the opportunity of working with the talented and skilled regional crew.
The North East Content Fund was launched in July 2009 as part of a £3.5 investment fund that aims to ensure film, TV, games, interactive media and music projects are developed and put into production in the North East of England.
Other Content Fund awards in this round were: £100,000 for New Black Films’ football documentary feature One Night in Turin, £40,000 to assist record company Global Unity for the European launch of heavy metal band Killing For Company, and £200,000 to Coolmore Productions towards the production of fantasy adventure film Dungeons & Dragons.
Northern Film and Media chief executive Tom Harvey said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be supporting these five projects through our North East Content Fund. I’m pleased that we are now working alongside Generator and able to invest in a music project. It really shows that a coordinated approach to supporting the commercial creative industries is starting to pay off.
“In particular, it’s wonderful that Inspector George Gently will now be shot in its rightful home of the North East, where the drama is set, and that Joe Maddison’s War will also begin filming in our region next year. We’re also delighted to be supporting an exciting music project for the first time.
“The North East Content Fund helps to ensure that films, television, video games, interactive media and music all remain alive and well in this region.. We are looking forward to working with North Star Equity Investors who are our partners in the next iteration of this fund launching early next year”
The North East Content Fund is run through funding made available by ONE NorthEast, the regional development agency for North East England.