Bristol’s growing reputation as a centre for TV production received a significant boost this week when Disney’s ABC Studios confirmed it is to film a major US series at the city’s Bottle Yard Studios.
Pre-production on Galavant – described as a musical comedy fairytale of epic proportions – started this week with filming due to begin in August. 
The decision by ABC Studios, the television production division of Disney-ABC Television group, follows production of Galavant’s pilot at The Bottle Yard earlier this year.
The sprawling studio complex, at 300,000 sq ft the South West’s largest dedicated film and television production facility, is becoming a serious player in the UK’s burgeoning TV production industry.
Earlier this week, Sky 1 HD’s comedy Trollied began filming its fourth series at the studios. The site, a former wine bottling plant now owned and operated by Bristol City Council, has also become a vibrant hub for business linked to the film and TV production industry including audio/visual specialists, transport firms and equipment suppliers.
Bottle Yard managing director Fiona Francombe said: “We were quietly proud to have been home to the Galavant pilot earlier this year, and we’re thrilled that ABC Studios have now decided to base the full series at The Bottle Yard Studios.
“To have secured a booking from a major international studio like this is confirmation that our facilities are competing at the highest level against other spaces in the UK production scene.”
UK producer Helen Flint added: “We decided to base Galavant at The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol because we were confident we’d get a first-class service from Fiona Francombe and her team.
“The studio is conveniently situated for Bristol and the great locations that surround the city.”
The US broadcast pilot of Galavant was the first to be made in the UK after the Government brought in a new tax relief for high-end TV production in April 2013. Production firms get a 25% rebate on 80% of production budget spent in the UK.
Disney set up Abbey C Studios Ltd to take advantage of the tax break. Several UK-filmed US dramas have qualified for the tax credit including Showtime and Sky Atlantic co-production Penny Dreadful.
Galavant, which Abbey C is producing for ABC Studios, traces the fortunes of dashing hero Galavant, who has lost the love of his life Madalena to the evil King Richard and is ready to take revenge and restore his “happily ever after” – but, in true Disney fashion, not without a few twists and turns along the way.
It has been created by Dan Fogelman, best known as the writer of Pixar’s Cars and Michael Douglas movie Last Vegas, and Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, who penned the scores for Disney's Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
Trollied, produced by Roughcut TV, has been filmed The Bottle Yard Studios since 2011 when it chose the site to house its purpose-built, full-scale supermarket set complete with fruit and veg section and meat counter with fake produce.
Trollied debuted as the most successful multi-channel comedy ever, and went on to be recommissioned for series two and three and two Christmas specials. Series four will film for the next seven weeks and will be broadcast later this year.
Other productions being filmed at The Bottle Yard Studios include BBC Two drama Wolf Hall, made by Company Pictures/Playground and starring Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance; BBC One drama Poldark made by Mammoth Screen and starring Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson; and long-running Channel 4 game show Deal or No Deal made by Endemol.
Last week Bristol Mayor George Ferguson called on Bristol's creative industries to help the city Europe's capital of creativity. He said the sector’s capacity to expand by 20% a year made it a major engine of growth for the local economy.
The industry now makes up about 10% of the city’s economy, employing around 16,000 people.
