CANCELLED BATGIRL FILM IMPACTS LOCAL GLASGOW BUSINESSES

Between December and March parts of Glasgow were transformed into Gotham City as it was the location for DC’s Batgirl. In a cinematic first it was the only movie to be entirely filmed in Glasgow.

Sadly it was confirmed earlier this week that Warner Bros Discovery had cancelled the movie despite already spending $70 million (£58 Million) on the project. This is upsetting for several small business owners in Glasgow as there was a lot of disruption to accommodate the shoot

Robert Chambers, a designer at the Social Recluse clothing shop on King Street had to shut the shop for 10 days in January for which he was compensated.

He said: “Usually we have a busy January but that month we couldn’t even get our online orders picked up by Royal Mail because the street was closed. Business was way down and people were getting frustrated because they weren’t getting their t-shirts.

The £1,000 compensation we got over the 30 days worked out at £30 a day – that doesn’t even turn the lights on in here. It was just a wasted month really.”

In January the Glasgow Film Office, set up by the council in 1997 to attract film and television to the city, declared 2021 a record year due to films like this and the new Indiana Jones.

It said TV productions like Annika, Shetland and Screw had also contributed a record £42.2m to the local economy.

Meanwhile, Batgirl was offered £150,000 by Glasgow City Council as an incentive to film in the area, although the sum has not been paid.

While Mr Chambers said he welcomed the influx of tourism, he felt business owners should have been consulted in greater detail before any decisions were made – particularly since the movie’s cancellation, he said, was a “slap in the face” to the council, businesses and residents.

He commented: “I love the fact that Glasgow was a backdrop for Hollywood movies, but that can’t be to the detriment of small businesses and residents in the local area who have got lives to lead.

I just felt at the time the council and the film department came in and stood on top of everybody and it didn’t matter what we said.”

Glasgow City Council said compensation was a matter for the production company and the private businesses to arrange. It added that major productions usually have liaison staff – typically a location manager or part of that team – who act as a bridge between productions and any residents or businesses that may be affected by shoots.

By the end of 2021, scene dressers for Batgirl had transformed the Trongate into the DC Comics universe, but had kept the signage from one waxing salon.

Kerri-Ann Angus, who manages the Peaches salon and brow bar, said her team had enjoyed the fun of having film crews on the street. They had also planned a staff trip to the cinema to see if they could spot their branding amid the streets of Gotham.

Ms Angus said: “It’s a bit disappointing. It was a bit of an upheaval from a business point of view – we gave them a bit of our shop and our clients didn’t know if we were open. We had to move our brow bar into the room which is not ideal for our girls and there was a bit more admin as well. We had to move clients on days we were closed. The Batgirl movie was the second film we had to close for – so we were more reluctant this time round to close.”