We’re on the A-list as film stars flock to capital

IT has been a year where Edinburgh has been in the media spotlight with pictures of the city beamed across the world.But it is not just Royal weddings and pandas which have been buying the Capital priceless publicity.

A host of top producers filming movies, documentaries and large-scale commercials in Edinburgh in the last year has brought in millions of pounds.

Statistics revealed today that more than £30 million has been directly spent by companies using Edinburgh in their work over the last decade, with experts saying next year may be even better than 2011.

This year, films like Ken Loach’s The Angel’s Share and Under the Skin, starring Hollywood A-lister Scarlett Johansson, pictured right, have been shot here, while well known UK-wide television shows and adverts for companies such as KLM and T-mobile have also helped show off the area.

In September, the City Chambers become a temporary Hollywood film set as it played host to the filming of Cloud Atlas, starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry.

Ros Davis, from Marketing Edinburgh Film Focus, the organisation which promotes the Lothians as a potential backdrop, said: “We work with producers and directors from all over the world, and it’s a great feeling to be able to showcase Edinburgh.

“2011 has been a really exciting year with some major productions filmed.

“Next year promises to be equally as eventful – and we look forward to welcoming some great talent to Scotland’s capital.”

As well as significant levels of filming, movies previously filmed here hit the screens over the last 12 months, at which point tourism bosses expect to see an impact, particularly from US cinema-goes.

One of those films was One Day, which has been watched by more than five million people worldwide and showed Edinburgh as “a romantic and beautiful location”.

Its director, Lone Scherfig ,said the city delivered “some of the best work days ever which just makes me want to come back”. “It is a very generous and easy place to work and as foreigners, the French director of photography and myself didn’t worry about sometimes finding ourselves on spots that may have been photographed many, many times before,” he said.

Marketing Edinburgh Film Focus said it hoped to have final figures in January for how much cash had been raised throughout 2011.

Crews came from across the world, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Japan and the US.

The organisation said the “period architecture and streets, vast quality and variety of houses and castles” in the Lothians were all pulling points.