Rupa Huq Hosts Parliamentary Event on Local Film Industry
Attendees told West London currently has more stars filming than LA
Rupa Huq talks to Emily Caston and Adrian Wootton . Picture: Timothy Anderson
June 6, 2026
The cultural and economic power of West London’s screen industries took centre stage in Parliament this week as Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq hosted the official launch of a landmark new report mapping the sector’s influence.
The event, held on Monday 1 June, brought ministers, MPs and senior industry figures together to discuss West London Screens: The Hidden Engine of the UK’s Convergent Screen Industries, a major study by Professor Emily Caston of the University of West London and Director of PRISM, the Public Research Institute of Screen Media.
West London has long been woven into the fabric of British film and television. Ealing Studios remains the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world, while the boroughs surrounding it have become a magnet for on-location shoots. Madonna recently filmed her comeback music video in Acton; Ealing’s streets have appeared in films from Love Actually to About A Boy; and television productions including Motherland and Big Brother have made the area their home.
Against this backdrop, the new report sets out the first comprehensive mapping of the sub-region’s screen ecosystem, drawing on data from 6,842 companies with a combined turnover of £74.5 billion and identifying 82 studios across the area. Its central argument is that West London’s 125-year-old industrial cluster is the strategic heart of the UK’s convergent screen industries, spanning film, television, advertising, games, post-production, VFX and immersive content.
From left to right: John McDonnell MP, Dan Tomlinson MP, Deirdre Costigan MP, Jack Abbott MP, Charlie Ingall, Rupa Huq MP, Adrian Wootton OBE, Professor Emily Caston. Picture: Timothy Anderson
Commissioned by West London Business and nine local authorities, the report’s findings were presented directly to ministers at the parliamentary launch. Dan Tomlinson, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and MP for Barnet, spoke of the Chancellor’s commitment to engaging with the sector’s needs and reflected on meeting residents who work in nearby studios. Jack Abbot MP, a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, pointed to the government’s Creative Industries Sector Plan, a ten-year roadmap, and a £75 million screen growth package, alongside business rates relief of up to 40 per cent for the next decade, as evidence of sustained support.
Rupa Huq said she was delighted to bring together leading industry figures with parliamentarians who have the power to respond to the challenges raised. “The term ‘world-beating’ is so often over-used but in this case it’s genuinely the case,” she said. Neighbouring MPs from the boroughs that funded the research, including Dawn Butler, Deirdre Costigan and John McDonnell, also attended.
Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of the British Film Commission and Film London, offered a global perspective fresh from the Cannes Film Festival. “Right now we have more film, television and advertising — and certainly games — going on in this city and in the UK nations and regions than anywhere else in the world,” he said. “There are more stars making films here than in Los Angeles right now.”
Charlie Ingall, Co-Founder of VERSA Studios, whose 600,000 square feet of facilities span London, Manchester and Leeds, described how West London anchors the national production ecosystem. Productions initiated from VERSA’s Acton base alone had generated £45 million of spend and thousands of jobs in Leeds. “A strong West London is actually a strong UK,” he said. “It’s so important that we stay ahead of that.”
The launch drew a wide range of senior attendees from across the creative industries, including Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Creative PEC CEO Hasan Bakhshi MBE, Film and TV Charity CEO Marcus Ryder MBE, UK Screen Alliance CEO Neil Hatton MBE, BFI Executive Director Rishi Coupland, Elizabeth Diaferia of the Creative Industries Trade and Investment Board, and Steve Davies, CEO of the Advertising Producers’ Association.
For Huq and the report’s authors, the message was clear: West London is not simply a historic home of British film and television but a modern engine room powering the UK’s global screen success. The parliamentary launch was designed to ensure that ministers understand both the scale of that contribution and the importance of supporting it in the years ahead.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |