Bristol’s Harbourside has been transformed into a historic dockyard twice in a month for feature films as the city continues to become a magnet for movie production companies.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society started filming on Harbourside last week, following on from Jon S Baird’s Stan & Ollie, which was filmed there earlier in April. Both productions were supported by the Bristol Film Office.
Attracted to Bristol by its uniquely well-preserved harbour, the filmmakers behind The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society are recreating a 1940’s dockside using Princes Wharf and its famous vintage paddle steamer The Balmoral. 
Directed by Mike Newell, whose past hits include Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is the film adaptation of Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ international best-selling novel of the same name.
Bristol Film Office has worked with the production team over the past four months to provide location scouting and recces, liaising with the industrial team at M-Shed, securing unit base at Wapping Wharf, sourcing costume stores and arranging holding areas for extras.
Producer Paula Mazur said: “Bristol has a fantastic, dockside museum, which has been beautifully preserved. It has enabled us to transform the exterior to represent Weymouth Docks in 1946. We’re grateful for the support of the Bristol Film Office in helping us bring our scenes here to life.”
Princes Wharf was also the star attraction for the filmmakers behind Stan & Ollie, which filmed major harbour scenes earlier this month featuring The Balmoral, with scenes also shot around Bristol Hippodrome. Bristol Film Office facilitated filming, working with Stan & Ollie’s production team to secure locations and set up a unit base at Lloyds Amphitheatre.
Stan & Ollie producer Faye Ward said: “The Balmoral was a gem of a find. Its conserved beauty was the perfect setting for a crucial moment in the film and we couldn’t have done it without the wonderful support of Bristol.”
Bristol Film Office manager Natalie Moore said: “April has been a fantastic month for Bristol on the big screen. We’re delighted to have supported both Guernsey and Stan & Ollie to use our locations this month.
“Films like these take months of preparation where we introduce the filmmakers to Bristol and show them exactly what the city has to offer. Whether its setting up location recces and liaising with local partners, closing roads or processing permits, a lot of work goes on in the background to help filming run smoothly.
“Shoots like these are major operations that employ local crew and bring an influx of cast and crew to the city to spend in our local economy. The benefits to Bristol are significant, worth more than £16m to the city last year alone, not to mention boosting Bristol’s profile as a world-class filming destination.”
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society stars Lily James, famed for Cinderella and Downton Abbey, as journalist Juliet Ashton, who forms a bond with a secret book society during German occupation of the Channel Islands during the Second World War. The free-spirited Ashton forms a life-changing bond with the eccentric Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society when she decides to write about the club.
Other cast includes Michiel Huisman, Glen Powell, Matthew Goode, Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Courtenay and Penelope Wilton.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is produced by Paula Mazur and Mitchell Kaplan from The Mazur/Kaplan Company and Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin from Blueprint Pictures, who were behind Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and In Bruges. The film is financed and distributed by STUDIOCANAL.
Stan & Ollie is an original film inspired by the 1953 variety hall tour of Britain by comedy geniuses Laurel and Hardy. With their golden era as the kings of Hollywood comedy behind them, they faced an uncertain future. As they crisscrossed the country, attendances were disappointingly low. But they had always been able to make each other laugh and as the charm and beauty of their performances shines through their audiences laugh too, and they re-connect with legions of adoring fans.
Penned by award-winning screenwriter Jeff Pope, who also wrote Philomena and Mrs Biggs, and directed by Jon S. Baird of Vinyl and Filth, Stan & Ollie stars Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy.
A Fable Pictures and Sonesta Films production, developed with BBC Films and produced by Faye Ward, Stan & Ollie is executive produced by Christine Langan and Gabrielle Tana for Baby Cow Productions, Jeff Pope for Sonesta Films and Joe Oppenheimer for BBC Films.
Other films made in Bristol recently include Ritesh Batra’s The Sense of an Ending, Chris Menaul’s Another Mother’s Son, John Miller’s Golden Years, Claire Downes’s upcoming We Can Be Heroes, and Damon Beesley and Iain Morris’s The Inbetweeners 2.
In 2015-16 Bristol Film Office issued 370 filming permits and recorded a total of 943 filming days – up by 65% from 2014 -15.
