Batgirl incentive worthwhile despite film being axed, says council leader

The leader of Glasgow City Council is telling Clyde News it was worthwhile paying Warner Brothers to shoot Batgirl here, despite the blockbuster now being scrapped.

The local authority awarded a £150,000 grant to the firm, which has reportedly canned the production because of a poor audience reception.

Large parts of the city centre were closed during filming including the Merchant City and surrounding streets.

It is the largest incentive awarded to a filming production in the last five years but Susan Aitken insists it wasn't pointless. She said:

"It is disappointing obviously and I think it seems to be a victim of a merger between Warner Brothers and Discovery and kind of internal business issues within the movie and broadcast industry.

"In terms of Glasgow, we got the benefit, you know, it was filmed and all of the business and crucially, the jobs that were created during that filming that happened.

"That was actually quite, we think, quite a significant economic benefit for Glasgow that came out of that filming. Obviously, it's disappointing. I think it Glaswegians would have been really looking forward to seeing Glasgow on the big screen - the first time an entire movie had been filmed here.

"But I'm confident other movies will still come back to Glasgow and I think I'm particularly disappointed for Leslie Grace who was the star of that movie and it was going to be a star making role for her that isn't isn't going to happen and she was such an advocate of Glasgow while she was here.

"She just was such an enthusiast and a lover of the city but unfortunately it seems to be big business issues and corporate issues that are beyond our control here in the city."

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The filming of Batgirl brought a very significant economic benefit to Glasgow when the production was here, with 450 Glasgow-based crew jobs, almost 1300 Scottish supporting artists, and many subcontractors working as tradespeople and in traffic management and security.

"Any decision on the release of the production is very much a matter for Warner Bros. The £150,000 grant support has not been paid, and discussions continue with the producers.”

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