Scotland's Screen Boom: Why Local Hiring Is Now the Central Question

Production companies filming in Scotland are facing pressure to hire more Scottish crews. Officials project the screen sector could be worth £1bn to the Scottish economy by 2030. The call links growth in inward investment, the term for big outside shoots, to local jobs, supplier spending and long-term skills The Guardian.

The debate has centred on The Traitors. The BBC reported the programme added £21.8m to the Scottish economy since 2022 through jobs, supply chain spending and screen tourism. Research by Peter Strachan found about 6% of production staff on series three were Scottish. Studio Lambert makes The Traitors. Strachan set up the campaign group Standing Up For Scotland's Screen Talent.

The commissioning structure sits behind the dispute. Ofcom, the UK broadcast regulator, sets quotas that require the BBC to produce 8% of network hours and spending in Scotland. David Smith is interim Executive Director of Screen Scotland, the national body for Scotland's film and TV industry. Smith said shows commissioned by public service broadcasters, the free-to-air channels with public duties, from Scottish production companies have declined steadily.

The volume of location shooting explains why hiring has become acute. Spider-Man: Brand New Day filmed in Glasgow in 2025. Glasgow city centre stood in for New York in the latest Indiana Jones instalment and for Gotham City in the latest Batman instalment. The number and scale of films and TV series shooting year-round in Scotland has rapidly increased Televisual.

Screen tourism is growing alongside production pressure. Glenfinnan in Lochaber is home to around 150 people. The Glenfinnan viaduct doubled as the Hogwarts Express railway bridge in the Harry Potter films. Police Scotland issued a warning to visitors to Glenfinnan over dangerous parking and anti-social behaviour linked to film tourism.

The funding system was built to attract large shoots and develop home capacity in parallel. The Production Growth Fund provides an incentive for major film and TV producers to base their work in Scotland. The Scottish Government says the fund employs Scottish talent, provides skills development, supports local economies and grows creative and tourism industries. The Screen Scotland Production Growth Fund is for large-scale film productions filmed and/or produced in Scotland, while the Screen Scotland Film Development and Production Fund supports development and production of feature-length films and documentaries made by filmmakers in Scotland. Screen Scotland is part of Creative Scotland. Screen Scotland has outlined a six-year strategy for the screen sector with a focus on economic as well as creative growth.

Local figures point to work spreading beyond the central belt. The screen industry brought a £4.8 million boost to Argyll and Bute. Argyll and Bute's estimated local production spend in 2024 was £1.4 million Argyll and Bute Council. The Scottish Government said in 2018 that Scotland's overall production spend had increased by more than 30% to another record high.

The broader context here is a two-track market familiar to small nations with strong locations. Inward investment productions bring spend and use of studios, locations and facilities. Indigenous commissions, meaning orders placed with home companies, determine who retains intellectual property, who advances to senior crew and production executive roles, and who can sustain companies between incoming shoots.

Looking at what this means for policymakers, the instruments are quotas, funds and hiring expectations rather than direct hiring mandates. The 8% network hours and expenditure requirement sets a floor for BBC activity in Scotland. The Production Growth Fund and Film Development and Production Fund condition public support on Scottish filming, production and talent development. Whether stronger local hiring guidance shifts the 6% figure cited on series three of The Traitors, and whether public service broadcaster commissions from Scottish production companies stabilise, will test the balance between attracting mobile productions and building a self-sustaining production base.