Bristol is aiming to become the home of Netflix’s new UK production base as the US TV giant starts a nationwide search for a suitable site.
Netflix will make about 40 productions in the UK this year. But due to a shortage of production space in the UK – as the country attracts more international filmmakers – the US firm has made securing its own studios a top priority. 
Bristol’s bid to land Netflix’s production hub was revealed by Mayor Marvin Rees in his ‘State of the City’ speech on Wednesday.
As one of his seven 2016 election pledges, he said he would work to secure European Capital of Culture status for Bristol.
But on Wednesday he said: “Post the Brexit vote to leave the European Union, it was clear that investing large amounts of money and time in bidding for the EU capital of Culture would be a fruitless venture.”
However, as part of the city’s culture strategy its bid to become a UNESCO city of film was successful, he said. And while missed out in becoming the site of Channel 4’s new HQ after being shortlisted, it is still in the running to become one of its regional hubs.
Mayor Rees added: “And we have contacted Netflix, which is looking for UK bases, so we can position Bristol as a hub for production studios.”
It is understood that while Netflix bosses have voiced their need for a UK production site they have not yet appointed commercial agents to carry out a detailed national search.
Film and TV media outlets have reported that a boom in demand for studio space in the UK is hitting Netflix’s plans to spend more of its $8bn (£6.1bn) annual production budget in Britain.
Bristol is home to the city council-owned Bottle Yard Studios, which have transformed a former winery and bottling plant in Hengrove, South Bristol, into a thriving complex with eight stages as well as an extensive back lot, workshop areas, production offices, costume and make-up rooms, dressing-rooms, storage, private roadways and parking.
Recent productions have included the Hellboy 3 movie, the third series of Sky Atlantic’s Arctic thriller Fortitude, and series four of the BBC’s Poldark.
