About Leeds
The West Yorkshire City of Leeds is the largest city in the county and is a massive cultural hub in the UK.
Famous for its rich history, Leeds was the first place in the UK to create a map of the English counties which helped design the infrastructure for many cities in the US.
In terms of music and the arts, Leeds excels with best-selling authors like the Brontë sisters and JRR Tolkein (author of The Lord of The Rings) calling the city and surrounding towns home.
Cool filming fact; Did you know that Leeds is where the world’s first-ever films were made. Contrary to popular belief, historians state these first moving pictures were captured by a Frenchman named Leprince in 1888, predating Thomas Edison and the Lumiere Brothers in the States.
On top of that, Leeds has many famous movies and tv shows filmed within its borders such as The King’s Speech, Harry Potter and The Peaky Blinders. If you’re coming to this Northern English City to film, you’ll likely find many great locations ideal for your filming needs.
Filming Locations Options in Leeds
So you’ve chosen Leeds as the location for your next creative filming project. Congratulations, you’re in the right place for it!
Alongside finding a good space or backdrop for your film to be shot, you’ll need to consider hiring the help of services complementary to filming to ensure it runs smoothly. Here are a few options to consider:
- Film Editor
The quality of a film’s editing can spell the difference between it being a creative success or a nonsensical disaster. Luckily Leeds has no shortage of quality Film Editors to choose from.
Once you’ve made your selection, your chosen Editor will help to showcase the visual tone and emotion of your film with well-selected and strategically edited takes.
In addition, they’ll also ensure the entire film makes sense to your audience, working closely with the guidelines set out by the film’s Director.
- Director
Your chosen Leeds Director will control the artistic, dramatic and visual direction of your film project. Essentially, they’ll be the one who brings it to life.
Directors will have a say in which actors and actresses are selected for which role, as well as who’s hired for set design, costume, and the many other important roles that go into the creation of a visual masterpiece.
Finally, the Director will also create the guidelines for the film’s script, ensuring the writers have instructions set in stone for the direction the film’s story and tone have to take.
They’ll report directly to the Producer, themself.
- Producer
Having hosted a number of filming projects, Leeds has a number of great producers to choose from.
Arguably one of the most important roles in filmmaking, your chosen Leeds Producer will secure funding for your filming project, ensuring you have the budget to obtain the resources you need for filming.
Once they’ve secured funding, they’ll be the ones who’ll get the filming project off of the ground, having a say in who gets hired as the director, cast, editing staff, and more.
Finally, they’ll create the guidelines that the cast and crew will stick to during your entire production.
Filming Location Companies in Leeds
- Tell Studio
Constantly pushing the boundaries with their corporate and creative film ideas, Tell Studio helps their clients create visual masterpieces that deliver a clear and concise message to their audience. The filming company has worked alongside big names like the NHS, BBC and even Ralph Lauren.
- Big Blue Whale
Big Blue whale is a video production company based in the North West of The City of Leeds. They utilise a plethora of camera techniques including aerial and underwater shots and have worked with big-name brands like XTRONS and Tea+ to bring their projects to life.
- Reel Film
Reel Film is a team of Producers, Camera Ops and Animators that combined, create award-winning film projects for their clients. They’ve worked with Honda, The University of Leeds, and ITV to create everything from detailed short films to catchy television adverts.
Pros and Cons of Filming Locations in Leeds
Housing many filming companies and sets within their borders, Leeds makes a great location to shoot your upcoming film. To prevent you from running into any issues that hurt your film’s production, we’ve provided you with a list of pros and cons.
Advantages:
- Easy to Travel by Foot
The city of Leeds is quite small in comparison to other towns and cities in the UK. This makes finding places as a visitor relatively easy.
- A Beautiful Countryside
If you’ve been lucky enough to visit, you’ll already know that West Yorkshire boasts lens-worthy limestone caves, breath-taking views, and more.
- A Rich History
From improving the accuracy between regions to helping build the infrastructure across the pond, Leeds has many great historical feats to boast about.
- Full of Culture
Leeds is truly a diverse city with many people from many cultural backgrounds calling it home.
- A Growing Economic Powerhouse
As a result, there are lots of new businesses sprouting up, meaning a greater selection of filming services to choose from.
Disadvantages:
- Fewer Flight Routes
If you or your crew are planning to fly into Leeds to film, you may need to fly into another city’s airport, depending on where you’re travelling from.
- It’s Very Built Up
As a result, it can feel a little congested at times, especially when traffic picks up.
- Slow Internet Outside the City
This shouldn’t be an issue if you’re planning to stick inside the city, but if you have some rural shoots, you may notice this inconvenience.
- The Cold
As with most of the country, Leeds isn’t known for its tropical climate. It rains throughout a lot of the year – so bring an umbrella!
- Higher Costs
Filming and complimentary services inside the city are likely to cost more than those in the surrounding areas outside of the city.
Famous Filming Locations in Leeds
- Creative Studio Space in the Heart of Leeds
Based in the heart of Leeds, the 70-square-metre studio can be turned into whatever you need it to be. The space benefits from high ceilings and lots of natural light. There is also a good selection of props and equipment on-site too, including a fog machine, paper backdrops, a green screen and more.
- Malham Cove
If you’re a massive Harry Potter nerd (like we are), Malham Cove is a must-see!
Used as the backdrop for Harry and Hermione’s campsite in The Deathly Hallows Pt1, these Limestone caves are one of the most recognisable and dramatic landscapes in Yorkshire. It’s also open to the public year-round and is a popular spot for avid hikers making the 3-hour walk up there.
- Haworth
Haworth is the home village of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, three of England's best writers. Being women living in the 19th century, they faced many challenges getting their now world-famous novels recognised and published.
Having changed very little, Haworth village is a popular tourist destination today and also the filming location of the motion picture in tribute to their lives.
