The Kent Film Office is a Kent County Council initiative which was set up in 2006 to promote filming in Kent and attract inward investment into the Kent economy from the film and broadcast industries.
Based in Invicta House, County Hall, Maidstone, the Kent Film Office has two staff members who provide a dedicated Film Commissioning Service including a location finding and research service, obtaining film permits, facilitating traffic management requests, sourcing local crew and trainees and mediating any disputes.
The Kent Film Office has the following three priorities for the county of Kent:
Maximise inward investment from film and television productionsSafeguard the civil rights and interests of Kent’s residents and businessesSupport local sector infrastructureSince its launch, filming activity has brought over £40 million into Kent, with the Kent Film Office assisting many high profile productions including:
Feature films:
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Marvel Studios filmed at Dover CastleInto The Woods (2015) Walt Disney Pictures filmed at Dover CastleRush (2013) Cross Creek Pictures, Exclusive Media, Working Title Films, Imagine Entertainment, Revolution Films filmed at Brand's HatchWorld War Z (2013) Skydance Productions, GK Films, Plan B Entertainment filmed at Discovery ParkGreat Expectations (2012 film) BBC Films filmed at Stangate Creek, The Historic Dockyard Chatham, Shellness Beach and Swale nature reserve, Oare Marshes and St Thomas A Beckett church in FairfieldSherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows (2011) Silver Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures filmed at Fort Amherst, Knole, The White Cliffs of Dover and The Historic Dockyard ChathamMy Week With Marilyn (2011) The Weinstein Company, BBC Films filmed at Saltwood CastlePirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides (2011) Walt Disney Pictures filmed at KnoleHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010) Heyday Films filmed at the Dartford CrossingSherlock Holmes (2009) Hartswood Films, WGBH film at The Historic Dockyard ChathamWild Child (2008) Studio Canal, Relativity Media, Working Title Films filmed at Cobham HallThe Other Boleyn Girl (2008 film) BBC Films, Relativity Media filmed at Dover Castle, Knole and Penshurst PlaceTV Dramas:
Wolf Hall (2015) Company Pictures filmed at Dover Castle and Penshurst PlaceHetty Feather (2015) CBBC filmed at Cobham HallThe Great Fire (2014) filmed at Cobham Hall and Penshurst PlaceThe Honourable Woman (2014) BBC Worldwide, SundanceTV filmed at Romney MarshThe Tunnel (2013) Kudos Film and Television filmed at the Channel Tunnel, Folkestone including the harbour, Discovery Park, Connaught Barracks, Dover including the Port, Margate and RamsgateSouthcliffe (2013) Warp Films filmed at Faversham, Oare Marshes, Whitstable, East Kent Railway, Grain Power station, Canterbury and SittingbourneParade's End (2012) Mammoth Screen filmed at St Thomas A Beckett Church, Fairfield in Romney Marsh, Dungeness, St Mary’s Bay and Dorton House in Sevenoaks.Henry V - The Hollow Crown - No Surrender (2012) Neal Street Productions, NBCUniversal, WNET filmed at Squerryes Court and Penshurst PlaceTrue Love (2012) BBC filmed entirely in Thanet at Margate, Turner Contemporary, Westgate-On-Sea, Cliftonville, Pegwell Bay, Botany Bay and BroadstairsThe Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) BBC, Masterpiece filmed in Rochester City including the castle and Cathedral and Riverside Country ParkGreat Expectations (2011/2012) BBC Productions, filmed at the St Thomas A Beckett Fairfield churchPoirot - The Clocks (2009) London Weekend Television, filmed at Dover Castle, Dover and St Margaret's BayEmma (2009) BBC filmed at Chilham and Squerryes CourtOliver Twist (2007) BBC filmed at The Historic Dockyard ChathamCape Wrath (2007) Ecosse Films filmed at Leybourne Lakes, Mote Park Leisure Centre, Whatman warehouse Rusthall, Kings Hill, Imperial College-Wye CampusThe Kent Film Office works closely with national partners Creative England and is a member of the Film Offices UK group.
Locally, the Kent Film Office collaborates with organisations including The Maidstone Studios and Screen South.
In 2008, the Kent Film Office worked with all of Kent’s county and district councils, Kent Police and private stakeholders to launch the Kent Filming Partnership, pledging Kent to be a Film Friendly County.
In 2009, the Kent Film Office launched a £200,000 Development Fund to support film and television projects with script development and productions wishing to locate their filming in Kent. The fund invested in productions including Strawberry Fields (2012) and Age of Heroes (2011) and closed in 2012.
The Kent Film Office has an interactive Movie Map which details feature films and TV dramas filmed in Kent, dating as far back as 1940 film Contraband, which featured Ramsgate. The Kent Movie Map has over 200 productions which have filmed across nearly 300 locations.
The Kent Film Office also has themed trails including Austen, Bond, Darling Buds of May, Dickens and The Other Boleyn Girl, with a special Tudor Trail to be released in 2016.
