It’s Merton’s annual time to shine with all eyes on The All England Lawn Tennis Club for two weeks, as the Wimbledon Championships are broadcast all over the world.
Once again Good Morning Britain sets up a temporary studio in Wimbledon Park, with live chat to fans camping out for tickets, Sean Fletcher presenting all the sports news and Laura Tobin providing weather reports.
BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent and team are presenting from the queue outside.
Sky is setting up, BBC Radio 5, a documentary crew is recording the tournament, and so many more productions have all been permitted.
This year the French Nord Ouest production Amanda is taking advantage of the local atmosphere to film a sequence in which the main characters attend the tennis at Wimbledon – so they are filmed heading toward the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
And FilmFixer, who manage the film office service for Merton Council, remind crews that it’s important to be permitted, at such a busy time in the neighbourhood.
FilmFixer director Andrew Pavord says, “There’s a lot that can go wrong. Possibly the worst for a crew is that your piece may not be broadcast if you can’t produce location release documentation. It’s an environment where it’s important to know who is managing which area, and it’s very easy to be in breach if you haven’t contacted us first.
“Your insurance might invalidated. And there could be copyright issues if you’ve used branding or logos without permission.
“We work closely with the All England Lawn Tennis Club, making sure that all the filming outside the club is managed efficiently and safely.”
Andrew Pavord says the vast majority of crews do the right thing, but it’s important to dissuade rogue productions from taking their chances.
“It’s not worth going down there without the permit,” he says. “This is a highly controlled environment, where accreditation is strictly monitored. We’re able to turn applications around very quickly, so just get in touch.”