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LMGI COMPASS
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Fall 2019
started to generate attention. On some technical scouts, I
requested that crew hide their GoT ID cards. You do your
best but there is nothing as obvious as 50 people huddling
around in wet gear taking notes on a beach. It's also really
important to have a detailed security plan. It's critical that
your crew and security stay calm under pressure and that
the assignment instructions are clear. Engaging local agen-
cies and community leaders can be very beneficial. A good
news story like ours was positive for the entire country, so
you find local agencies and councils and organizations tend
to be very helpful. For example, the air support unit of the
PSNI and the Harbour Police in Belfast were incredibly help-
ful in providing dedicated officers toward our operations as
they became more complicated. NI SCREEN, our
film commission, was absolutely great and acces-
sible when times got tough. The good thing with NI
is that it is community-based. If you partner with the
folks on the ground who are allowing you to film on
their properties, they will be your strongest allies. It's
something unique about this show in that we really
did become a large family and I'm confident that
our location owners all know how much they were
respected by me for the support they gave us.
The GoT effect on NI tourism has been profound.
I'm not surprised that we have positively benefited
the local tourism industry. It's been an absolute
game changer for Northern Ireland. We have spent
a decade making an exquisite travel commercial
which has really captured the beauty of this re-
gion. It's a gorgeous, interesting place and it feels
great to see how many people are prepared to
make the journey here to appreciate it in person.
tion filming in their region. Tourism Northern Ireland also has
hosted industry events sharing screen tourism insight, as well
as consumer events that generated impressive direct spend-
ing, international visitor numbers and millions in public rela-
tions (PR) value.
N
orthern Ireland has since been featured in many other
films and television shows, attracting major international
projects to their production hub and natural landscapes.
At the same time, they build tourism experiences around those
filming locations for the worldwide tourists those projects cre-
ate. This formula for promoting screen tourism appears to be
emerging as a pattern for success.
Photos by Helen Sloan/HBO
