Film tourism: 'Set-jetters' descend on the West Midlands
In 2021, Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise was spotted at Grand Central in Birmingham filming a Dubai airport chase scene for Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, which was released two years later.In 2016, Academy Award-winning film director Steven Spielberg spent two months in the city shooting cityscape and chase scenes for his dystopian drama, Ready Player One.Onlookers enjoyed a vehicle chase scene with roads around the city's Jewellery Quarter transformed into a planet on the brink of collapse and where a virtual reality simulation helps people escape the real world.Both productions drew big crowds during filming, while photos of the stars were widely shared across social media for weeks on end.They also attracted "set-jetters" – a fast-growing trend where tourists arrive months after shooting on a film or TV drama ends for their own "on location" visiting experience."It's really critical that we get those international visitors in," said Rebecca Frall, head of tourism at the West Midlands Growth Company."We've got people starting new businesses, such as walking tours; we've got other products like Escape Room Lives around the Peaky Blinders; there's Black Sabbath – the Ballet, for example, which is touring around the world."All of these associations with the creative/digital sector are helping to promote the region."
In recent years, the Hollywood studios have shifted production out of LA and into Europe due to rising costs, though there has been a push to reverse some of the production exodus following the recent LA fires. In the West Midlands, refining the art of marketing film locations matters because the region's cultural sector is worth around £1.1bn to the local economy and employs more than 16,000 people.It is also under pressure – post-Covid – tourist numbers in the region have fallen and continue to fluctuate. The hospitality industry is also struggling.Hotels and restaurants would love to reap some of the "Tom Cruise effect".Tourism bosses have found that seven in 10 UK visitors are set-jetting to a film or TV location while visiting Britain, which has prompted a call to do more in the West Midlands.It is hoped that at the inaugural World Screen Tourism Summit – known as SET-JET 25 – in Birmingham, further opportunities will emerge to win investment and help young people enter the film industry.
Last autumn, it was believed that scenes from Steven Knight's new Netflix-backed Peaky Blinders movie, The Immortal Man, were shot at the Black Country Living Museum, although it has not been confirmed.With production ongoing, exact dates and locations are usually shrouded in secrecy.However, parts of the open-air site were used to film various scenes, including Charlie Strong's yard, for the hit TV drama series, which ran from 2013 until 2022.The museum's staff are delighted to be associated with the Peaky Blinders. "We're proud of it and proud to pay our part. We've noticed an increase in visitors locally, nationally and internationally, said David Middlemiss, the museum's director of development and external affairs."When visitors come here, their eyes are opened to the wider stories that we can tell about the Black Country."Knight, the creator and writer of Peaky Blinders, has backed Visit Britain's two-year "Starring Great Britain" campaign.He said: "Exciting things are happening here, and we've got ambitious plans to make TV and movies on an international scale from our new Digbeth Loc. Studios."We're setting up in the heart of what was once Peaky Blinders country. I want people to come and experience it for themselves and enjoy what a fantastic area this is."
Aside from movies – which include Coventry's role in blockbuster hits like The Italian Job (1968) starring Michael Caine and Nativity! (2009) starring Martin Freeman – a raft of other production companies have chosen to film in the West Midlands.The BBC's All That Glitters, which ran for two series in 2021 and 2022, saw artists compete at the city's 19th-century School of Jewellery building, part of Birmingham City University.The reality TV show led to a surge in interest in jewellery courses in the city."Being able to shout about jewellery to a wider market meant we had lots of student numbers coming through because we have everything on our doorstep," said Andrew Howard, senior lecturer, at the university."We've had walking tours of people who have seen the jewellery show. It's an area to come and see; it's not just about manufacturing."And he added: "As soon as a filming location comes through, everyone's on WhatsApp talking about it."
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