CREC054210 - Eligible expenditure: UK expenditure: film and TV examples: services related to a single territory

Principal photography 

In the case of services supplied directly in relation to principal photography, it should be clear where they are used or consumed. 

Example 1 

A production company hires a stuntman to take part in filming which takes place on location in the UK. 

The nature of the service is the provision of a specialist performance which is required by a specific scene which is filmed during the process of principal photography. 

Because this principal photography takes place in the UK, the stuntman’s service is used or consumed by the production company within the UK and therefore meets the definition of UK expenditure. That remains the case if the stuntman were supplied by a company outside the UK, or if he were a non-UK national, or both. 

Example 2 

A production company hires an actor to perform in a short scene which is filmed on location outside the UK. All the remaining scenes are filmed within the UK. 

The nature of the service is again the provision of a performance which is required by a specific scene which is filmed during the process of principal photography. Because the scene in question is filmed outside the UK, the service of the actor is not used or consumed in the UK, and therefore the relevant expenditure is not UK expenditure. 

End of examples 

A similar approach can be taken in the case of other services directly associated with principal photography, because there is a clear link to a physical performance within a specific location. These include services supplied by actors, camera operators, focus pullers, make-up artists, production managers, caterers and any others directly involved in the process of principal photography. In each case, the services relate to UK expenditure to the extent to which the physical location of principal photography is within the UK. 

However, it is important to note that the expenditure on these services is not UK expenditure because the service is physically performed within the UK by the supplier. Instead, it is UK expenditure because the service is used or consumed by the recipient within the UK.

Other stages of production 

Similar considerations will apply where the goods or services are obviously related to a single territory – for example, where all of the post-production work on the soundtrack takes place in a single studio.