Film Edinburgh

What Film Edinburgh does

Film Edinburgh is a non-profit, government-operated film office established in 1990 and embedded as a department within the Culture Service of the City of Edinburgh Council's Place Directorate. The organization provides free services to film and television productions seeking to shoot in the Edinburgh city region, which spans Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, and the Scottish Borders. Its customer base spans feature films, TV dramas, commercials, corporate videos, documentaries, promos, stills shoots, and funded short films, supported by a small team of approximately six employees.

The core platform consists of a web-based location database with hundreds of registered properties (399 locations in the housing category alone) categorized across housing, castles, countryside, industrial, coastline, and other typologies, and a Production Guide directory connecting incoming productions with local crew, facilities, and production companies. Supplementary services include permit facilitation (with streamlined protocols across multiple councils), recce support for qualifying feature films and TV dramas, and a location registration service for property owners. Production-ready infrastructure in-region includes FirstStage Studios in Leith, offering over 90,000 ft² of shooting space plus ~35,000 ft² of workshops.

Film Edinburgh's business model is fully public-sector funded. The organization does not generate commercial revenue; the only fee is a £55 plus VAT one-off administrative charge for new location registrations to cover visit and photo library management costs. Its go-to-market relies on its online presence (website, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Bluesky, X/Twitter), word-of-mouth within the production community, and inter-council Film Charters (renewed in 2023 with Edinburgh and East Lothian). The organization also participates in the FO:UK network of UK film offices.

Name

Film Edinburgh

Legal name

Film Edinburgh

Website

https://filmedinburgh.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Film Edinburgh is a government-operated film office within the City of Edinburgh Council providing free location database access, permit facilitation, and production support to film and television productions shooting across Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, and the Scottish Borders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film Office Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Production (51211)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPADAFAE

Locations Services (Scouting, Permits, Management)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Film & Video Production/Distribution/Production Services (Crew, Equipment Rental, Locations)

SECONDARYMPAAAMAG

Studios, Stages & Location Services (Facilities, Location Scouting/Permits)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Advertising, Marketing & PR Services/Production Services for Advertising (Commercial Production, Post)

Keywords

• Film office services
• Location scouting
• Filming permits
• Production support
• Crew directory

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Public Sector Funded Service: Film Edinburgh is a department within the Culture Service of the City of Edinburgh Council, providing free services to the film industry. It does not generate commercial revenue but is funded through public sector budgets. The only fee mentioned is a £55 plus VAT one-off admin fee for new location registrations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Film Edinburgh operates the regional film office for Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, and the Scottish Borders. It provides filmmakers with a searchable online Locations Database of potential filming sites, an online Production Guide directory of local crew and facilities, Filming Permits facilitation, Recce Support for qualifying productions, and a Location Registration service for property owners. Services are provided free of charge to filmmakers.

Product overview

Film Edinburgh operates as a regional film office providing a coordinated platform of location management, permitting, and production support services for filmmakers. The core offering consists of a Locations Database (searchable online library of film locations), a Production Guide (directory of local crew and facilities), and Filming Permits services. Additional services include Recce Support for feature films and TV dramas, and a Location Registration service for property owners. The platform serves the Edinburgh city region encompassing Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, and the Scottish Borders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Locations Database

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• City of Edinburgh CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm Edinburgh sits within the Place Directorate of the City of Edinburgh Council. The council provides the organizational framework and funding for the film office operations. Film Edinburgh provides film office services on behalf of Edinburgh, East Lothian Council, Midlothian Council and Scottish Borders Council.
• East Lothian CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEast Lothian Council works with Film Edinburgh and confirmed its commitment to filming with the launch of a new Film Charter in 2023. The council renewed its Film Charter to facilitate filmmakers.
• Midlothian CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm Edinburgh provides film office services on behalf of Midlothian Council, which falls within the Edinburgh city region covered by the service.
• Scottish Borders CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm Edinburgh provides film office services on behalf of Scottish Borders Council, extending the region's film location offerings to include Borders properties.
• FirstStage StudiosmajorTechnology or IntegrationDedicated film/HETV studio in Leith offering over 100K ft² shooting space (flexible configuration, blacked-out, part soundproofed), up to 82ft/25m high, and circa 35,000 ft² of workshops. Featured in Film Edinburgh's production guide as a key facility for productions.
• FO:UK (Film Offices UK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm Edinburgh participates in FO:UK, a network of film offices across the UK, providing peer connections and industry collaboration opportunities.
• Edinburgh City Region BrandminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Edinburgh City Region Brand is promoted through Film Edinburgh's website content. The City of Edinburgh Council holds brand rights that may be enforced against unauthorized use.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Film London: Regional film office for London providing location services, permit facilitation, and production support — the same core functions as Film Edinburgh, scaled to the UK's largest production market.
• Screen Scotland: National screen agency for Scotland that funds production and supports location filming — directly comparable mandate at a country-wide scale, including overlapping Edinburgh-region activity.
• Screen Manchester: Greater Manchester's film office providing location services and production support — comparable UK regional film office with a comparable municipal-council backing model.
• Screen Yorkshire: Regional screen agency for Yorkshire & Humber providing location services, funding, and production support — comparable regional peer with similar mandate and council-linked governance.
• Northern Ireland Screen: National screen agency for Northern Ireland funding productions and supporting location work — directly comparable peer in terms of government-backed production services, though focused on a different UK region.
• Glasgow Film Office: Municipal film office for Glasgow offering location matching, permits, and production support — Scotland's most direct competitor for incoming film and HETV productions.

Broad incumbents

• Film Offices UK (FO:UK): Network of UK regional film offices including Film Edinburgh — comparable as an umbrella body but not a direct operational competitor; relevant as a coordination and standards layer.
• British Film Institute (BFI): UK-wide lead body for film with funding, policy, and exhibition functions — broader than Film Edinburgh's regional mandate but a key upstream policy and funding counterpart.
• Creative Scotland: Public body funding arts and creative industries in Scotland — comparable as a public-sector funder with overlapping stakeholder relationships, though broader in scope than film-only.

Others

• VisitScotland / Edinburgh City Region Brand: Destination marketing organization promoting Scotland/Edinburgh as a tourism and events location — adjacent enabling partner where Film Edinburgh cross-promotes the city as a filming destination.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FilmEdinburgh
• Facebookfacebook.com/filmedinburgh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/film-edinburgh
• Instagraminstagram.com/film.edinburgh

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Film Edinburgh