19 November 2010
Eastbourne Seafront and Downland at Beachy Head will have a massive impact on the new adaptation of Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock when it hits cinemas early next year.
The film crew based themselves in the seaside town for 3 weeks during filming, with 13 days of filming taking place in Eastbourne and along the cliffs at Belle Tout and Birling Gap.
With an estimated 1 in 10 visits to the UK being attributed to the impact of British films, Eastbourne tourism bosses want to promote the destination to ‘set-jetters’ around the globe and raise awareness to cinema goers that despite the film’s name, a large number of scenes were actually filmed in Eastbourne.
More than 10 hotels were used to accommodate the 100 plus cast and crew boosting the local economy, at least 250 local people were employed to work on the film as extras, and more than 100 of the council’s stewards were used to help with moving equipment and looking after the many crowds that stood and watched the filming. Eastbourne stewards were even taken out of the town to help with crowd control when the film crew had a few days filming in Brighton.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism Councillor Neil Stanley says, “We were very excited to have so much filming take place here and it’s down to having such an immaculate and traditional seafront that the film makers chose Eastbourne as their base.
“The fact that Eastbourne was used so heavily during the filming is testament to our fantastic Film Liaison Unit and our desire to constantly find new ways to promote the destination and attract new audiences.”
The film crew also had other needs to make Eastbourne look like 1960’s Brighton, with 66 road signs being taken down for the shoot, 161 parking spaces were suspended, and a total of 4 road closures were put in place.
During night filming 7 cranes that could reach up to 60metres high and weighing up 40 tonnes were used to help light the seafront and Downs near the Belle Tout lighthouse.
And during one day of filming the seafront was closed to traffic so that 100 period Lambrettas could ride up and down the seafront, creating some iconic scenes that are now being used to promote the film in the run up to its UK release in February.
With Brighton Rock being premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September and with advance screenings now taking place in London, Eastbourne is getting ready to make the most out of the buzz surrounding the release and attract a new generation of visitors known as ‘set-jetters’ to the resort.
Filming in Eastbourne is planned and organised through the Council’s Film Liaison Unit in partnership with agencies including Sussex Police, who had officers on site during the filming of Brighton Rock riot scenes under Eastbourne Pier, as well as the Highways department who have a big involvement to ensure filming on the roads is well contained and does not cause too much disruption.
