Opulence Pictures Promotes Northern England at SXSW in Austin, TX
- Opulence Pictures
- Apr 18
- 2 min read
Opulence Pictures President Nika Finch made an appearance at SXSW in Austin, Texas, as part of an official delegation from Manchester. Included in the delegation were the city's mayor, Andy Burnham, Councillor Bev Craig, members of the GM Business Growth Hub, and four other Manchester-based companies — GAS Music, Scoop PR, Play XD, and NALA Creative.
This year's SXSW was a blast and welcomed a plethora of celebrities, including Pedro Pascal, Matthew McConaughey, Aaron Paul, Michelle Obama, Blake Lively, Nicolas Cage, Ben Stiller, Paul Rudd, Robert Downey Jr., Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Matt Damon, Seth Rogen, and the list goes on. But despite the world premieres, flashy lights, and red carpets, the festival remains a hotbed for new international collaborations and business negotiations. This year was no exception.
After a productive meeting with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Councillor Bev Craig regarding bringing more film production work to Manchester and the rest of Northern England, Finch accompanied the rest of the delegation to UK House. This was the area that focused on ties between the UK and the rest of the world in the creative fields.
As a panel guest alongside Austin Studios Director Marty Jones and Alison Gwynn—Chief Executive of North East Screen and Chair of Screen Alliance North—Finch spoke in detail about the UK’s new tax relief for the film industry and how it has made the country a more attractive filming destination. Additionally, focusing specifically on Northern England, she mentioned that the North is still a hidden gem. It offers more value for money, an infrastructure that's continuing to develop, diverse and versatile landscapes, and significantly less congestion compared to the South—particularly around London.
Did you know that Northern England was used as a filming location for major Hollywood movies like Captain America: The First Avenger, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Harry Potter, Kingsman, 1917, Darkest Hour, Hobbs & Shaw, and Morbius? And that's before the new tax incentives came into play. If you want to learn more about the new incentives, we've broken them down on our UK page under CASH REBATES.
Our visit to SXSW was highly productive, and we had meaningful conversations with US-based production companies that expressed not just interest, but genuine enthusiasm about bringing their projects to our region. Aside from its natural beauty, the landscape in Northern England is quite versatile, with some areas having been used as substitutes for London, New York City, San Francisco, Berlin, Belgium, France, Eastern Europe, Afghanistan/Iraq, and other generic U.S. cities.
As we've mentioned before, we are proud to be based in Manchester and will continue to promote what Northern England has to offer the film industry. If you'd like more information or to discuss a possible co-production with us, reach out to us today.
