CASE STUDY: HIGHLAND LOCATION NESS ISLANDS
Ness Islands is a small group of walkable islands located on the River Ness within Inverness. The Ness Islands are owned and maintained by Highland Council and are a popular choice for filming. Here the council details how they work with productions to ensure a successful filming experience for all parties.
“The Ness Islands are hired for filming/photography around 10 times a year by productions. The use of the Islands varies hugely depending on the production in question and we work with each production to adapt to their needs.
When productions first get in touch, we make sure to find out as much as we can about their filming so that we can provide the best service for them. It also helps us to ensure we are charging them correctly and if required can advise them on the supporting services available to them e.g. carpark hire or waste collection.
We have learned it is important when working with a production to ensure there are always open lines of communication between the production and the landowner. This helps us to keep track of any changes in the terms of the location use as well as helping prevent any issues arising with the production or members of the public.”
Highland Council went on to discuss how Screen Highland supports them, the fee process for filming and the benefits to a location of facilitating filming.
The Highland Council regularly works with productions filming in locations across Highland and have therefore developed a simple and efficient process for arranging permissions. Working with Screen Highland we are notified about productions wishing to film at one our locations or properties. The film office send over the details we require to consider the request and as a department we then decide whether the filming is feasible, any concerns/conditions that could arise and the fee that the production will be charged. Our charging schedule was designed by Screen Highland in consultation with production companies, the council and other film offices and means that we see an immediate economic benefit from filming.
Overall productions filming at our locations is a really positive experience. It allows us to generate income, helps to promote our region and supports the local screen industry in the Highlands. Ness Islands is a great example of one of our more popular locations however, there are many more council owned and private locations across Highland available for filming.
*If you are interested in filming on Ness Islands or any other Highland locations, please get in touch with Screen Highland.