2021 Reflections

Industry reflections on 2021

Congratulations everyone on getting through the year. 

2021 was meant to have been easier than 2020, with Covid easing and restrictions lifting. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The covid pandemic followed by the ping-pandemic forced us all to think creatively and find new, innovative methods of doing business. Fortunately, the TV and film industry responded incredibly well. 

At Openbrolly we have seen this positive response, through more enquiries and the adoption of our MovieSite systems to enable offices to market crew and locations within the film and TV industry, allowing the management of the impact and interaction with productions when they come to an area. 

We now have built-in flexibility to our film and event permit solutions to cope with unexpected changes at short notice. In addition to allowing staff to work from different offices and home for over twenty years.

Our reflections at Openbrolly

☂️ Kaitlyn joined the OB team, bringing fresh new ideas and talent.

☂️ We gained new clients and provided clients with extra modules and launched a brand new product: EventsMakr. This was a real boost to ourselves in the year we have all been through.

☂️ We started and undertook a huge MovieSite redesign and UX project and launch of our fantastic new MS2.

Moving forward in film and TV

Between October 2020 and September 2021 the associated spend in the UK was £4.14bn for High-end TV and £1.8bn for film production. With 2022 already beginning with further relaxations in terms of restrictions, with the help of the vaccination and booster jab programme (BBC news article), we are no doubt going to see this increase by the end of this year.

Productions are always looking for new locations and studios and councils should be speaking to their national agencies to see what economic impacts may be possible. The national agencies are Filming in England (Filming in England), Wales Screen (Wales Screen), Northern Ireland Screen (Northern Ireland Screen) and Screen Scotland (Screen Scotland).  

Moving forward in events

As for events – restrictions are also starting to lift with indoor and outdoor events starting to be held once again. Community-based events express the identity of where we all live and demonstrate our well-being. 

There is likely to be pent up demand but we may be constrained through lack of resources and home working for council staff. Some moves to more efficient and automated processing of event permit applications should be looked at as a way to control costs and deliver a quality service.

With all this and more happening it’s time for us to get excited, to look forward to new beginnings, for us and our industries. We may have to change the way we work but we are resilient and capable of achieving anything. 

Here at Openbrolly, once again we are well placed to make 2022 a fantastic year. So, watch this space for more exciting news, enhancement announcements that you’ll never expect and much, much more. 

We want to help assist in any changes, in whatever way we can. As a result, we are devoting our knowledge, experience and expertise to create a collaborative and inclusive environment that allows our products and services to effectively serve you and the industries needs. These include:

• The launch of the new MS2 for engaging with the film and TV industry is coming SOON to ensure production happens
• EventsMakr is ready and waiting to be at the heart of all events within the local authority community
• And the Openbrolly community is receiving an overhaul to create a more collaborative space for open peer to peer discussion. This allows both technical and operational advice.

These are just a few of the highlights planned for 2022 within Openbrolly and as always we look forward to the exciting times that come.

The key to our success has been the commitment and loyalty of our clients, our management and our staff. We will continue to seek and highlight the contributions of everyone who has a part to play in the life of Openbrolly. 

Here’s to a great year, 

Team OB