Craig Higgins is one of the co-founders of Norfolk Screen, which was recently awarded a two-year contract from Norfolk County Council to represent the county as its official Film Office. Here, the Development Director explains why he thinks the county offers a world-class filming location
My role is to help promote Norfolk as a go-to filming destination, along with supporting production enquiries alongside my colleagues Claire Chapman and Evie Calaby. At times my role can be multifaceted as I help to also manage the Norfolk Screen directories, website, events etc.
What led you to co-found Norfolk Screen? What were you doing before?
Prior to Norfolk Screen I was the co-director of the BAFTA-qualifying Norwich Film Festival. I had helped to run the festival for a number of years and, through lots of discussions with local filmmakers, there was a frustration that Norfolk did not have a Film Office for incoming productions. We identified that lots of regions in the UK had a Film Office, but Norfolk was missing out. Therefore, Claire and I decided it was time we addressed this and thus Norfolk Screen was born with the intention of creating an emerging Film Office. We have now been operating as a CIC for over three years and have supported countless productions. We have most recently been awarded a 2-year contract from Norfolk County Council to be the official Film Office for Norfolk which is incredible!
What is it about the film world that you are passionate about?
I love to see local talent accessing work on productions within the region, along with seeing our wonderful county on the big (and silver) screen. Norfolk really is incredible and offers so much – it is exciting to see an industry that I adore grow from strength to strength in the region.
What is it about Norfolk that lends itself to being a perfect film location county?
Our locations are world class, from our stunning cathedral city to the beaches of Holkham. Norfolk holds so many gems, along with its big beautiful open sky which is just perfect for filming. We also have lots of incredible crew in Norfolk who are always keen to work on productions, along with some brilliant studio space at October Media and Epic Studios.
Can you name check some of the productions Norfolk Screen has been involved with to date?
Yes, we have been fortunate to support productions including Spencer (Shoebox Films), Good Luck to You Leo Grande (Genesius Pictures), The Chemistry of Death (Paramount+), The Shepherd (Disney+) and Mary & George (Sky Atlantic).
What does it mean to be the official Film Office for Norfolk over the next two years? How will you be proactively promoting the county?
It means so much to our service to be the official Film Office for Norfolk. For the last three years we have been working as an emerging Film Office supporting productions, but to have this title now means we can do more. It allows Norfolk Screen to be part of the Film Office: UK network and it helps us to have stronger ties with Creative England’s Filming in England team (they are responsible for lots of filming requests outside of London and they work very closely with Film Offices to support productions). As a service we are thrilled that Norfolk County Council is supporting us over the next two years and we can’t wait to help bring more productions to Norfolk!
What sort of productions are you hoping to attract?
All screen related activity is encouraged, and we want to support as much as possible. It would be amazing to continue to attract more high-profile TV and feature films to Norfolk and I would love to see a returnable series being shot here. I always think about how successful ‘Kingdom’ was with Stephen Fry which was shot in multiple locations in Norfolk, and I would love to see more series being made here. As a county we are very much open to attracting as much screen related activity as possible!
How can location scouts get in contact/find out more?
We have a wonderful directory of locations, crew and services – and we signpost lots of productions to these areas on our website which can be found at norfolkscreen.co.uk. We always encourage location scouts to pick up the phone or email us if they have any questions. We want to help showcase that Norfolk is a film friendly county and we are here to help!
Visit norfolkscreen.co.uk and Norfolk County Council.
Featured images – supplied
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