MORE blockbuster films are to put York and Yorkshire on the map after a local film company secured funding from investors.

Liquid Noise Films North expects to film nine movies with a joint budget of more than £200 million across the North East and North Yorkshire, including York and the North York Moors after securing the financial backing, including some from Los Angeles-based collective Finish Line Productions.

The company, set up by brothers Julian and Lionel Hicks from Scarborough, will start work in the region in September, on the films including some based on the work of former Scarborough vicar GP Taylor’s novels Mariah Mundi, Tersias and The Vampyre Quartet.

Julian Hicks said Liquid Noise’s long-term goal was to set up a self-sufficient studio in the region, although they are currently based in London.

The plans follow a number of film successes in the region, including The Knife That Killed Me, which is currently being made by Green Screen productions in Bubwith, near Selby.

Heather Niven, head of the Creative York network, said film played a vital role in the city, from hosting the Aesthetica International Short Film Festival to housing the Yorkshire film archives.

She said: “In York alone we have more than 250 media arts companies, which contribute to the strong and growing creative industry sector.

“Sixty-eight per cent of those companies are already working nationally or internationally and 96 per cent aspire to be working internationally within the next five years.

“Yorkshire is a stunningly beautiful region and is the location of choice for many media arts companies, and the friendliness of the Yorkshire people and lower production costs make for an excellent place to make films.”

Andrew Craske, head of communications at Screen Yorkshire, said: “Many film producers are now realising what Yorkshire and the North has to offer.

“It has diverse locations, skilled crew and facilities, film friendly local authorities and great infrastructure.

“We’re looking forward to a very busy few years as a number of new studios and facilities have recently launched along with Screen Yorkshire’s new investment fund which will bring £15 million into film, TV and other media production.”

On location

FILMS to be shot in North Yorkshire include:

• X-Breed – a £3.5m science-fiction thriller about soldiers sent into a military academy, to be filmed in York and Newcastle

• Tersias – GP Taylor’s fantasy adventure of night chases, double-crossings and magic, with locations that will include York, Yarm, Northallerton and Bedale

• The Vampyre Quartet – a teen chiller feature set in Whitby, which has been likened to a modern-day Dracula

• Jack D’arc – a fantasy thriller set in the 1920s, in which the streets of York and Durham will fill in for those of London.