Why has Croydon become a film location hotspot?

The Whitgift Centre escalator could well be the most famous in the world right now, thanks to Taylor Swift.

The global superstar coming to Croydon might have seemed unlikely but the half-empty and rather dated shopping mall was exactly what she needed for her music video, Opalite.

The south London borough is at an interesting point in its regeneration, with skyscrapers going up beside derelict old buildings - and many others somewhere in between.

And it is this "mix of metropolitan and residential buildings" which is part of the attraction for filmmakers, according to Sian Green, marketing manager for film location management company FilmFixer.

But there are other reasons creatives consider it to be a hotspot.

Marcus Hundsnes, chief executive of Disauthority, a post-production film company based in the town, describes the borough as "kind of scrappy - it gets things done".

For a short time in 2011, one of Croydon's stark office buildings became Gotham General Hospital. Christian Bale, playing the Batman, abseiled down the side of the former BT Building, Delta Point, in The Dark Knight Rises.

Another tower, the distinctively shaped No. 1 Croydon, featured prominently in the Netflix interactive Black Mirror special Bandersnatch, while more recently, Sir Idris Elba and John Cena stood in Overton's Yard when a concrete edifice blew up behind them, in Heads of State.

Croydon, it seems, can look like everything from the setting for a 1990s romcom, to Gotham City or even Poland, when filmed in the right light.

"It has an impeccable inner-city skyline," says Green.

Hundsnes agrees, explaining how "Croydon has the façade of being a bigger city. It's got all these huge offices that looks like residences".

And filmmakers get this authentic scenery without the restrictions of space and traffic management found in central London.

FilmFixer integrates the film industry with councils and local people, representing 15 of London's boroughs. It says it takes expressions of interest for Croydon almost every day.

London is a collection of "miniature cities", says Green, "each of which have something completely different to offer".

However she adds: "There is no other borough like Croydon, and Croydon offers things that others don't."

One such offer is the Whitgift Centre, which must be pretty unique. Plans for a major regeneration stalled soon after they were announced in 2013, leaving a shopping mall still in use but with very few shops that must be persuaded to close for film production.

Apart from Taylor Swift's video, a Christmas film was shot there this year, while scenes from Rebel Wilson's new movie were filmed there in October 2025.

Lauren Furey, publicity manager for Croydon's independent David Lean Cinema, says the "local council has developed a reputation amongst film and video makers for being easy to do business with", which makes locations like the Whitgift popular.

The fact that part of the shopping centre is closed also makes it "more cost effective when you don't have to navigate around open businesses", she says.

This all brings a cash injection for local businesses and to the council, which is heavily in debt. Money spent by production companies on parking and traffic suspensions alone is enormous.

"I think we can thank Taylor Swift for the reason that [Whitgift] escalator is working again," she adds.

Along with the big budget productions, there is a mood of grassroots entrepreneurship in Croydon.

Disauthority was founded by Hundsnes, Zain Haris and Raiyan Chinoy, who met at London Metropolitan University.

Initially operating from a shed, they are growing their "hidden gem" of a post-production suite, and "business is booming" at the "little powerhouse in Croydon", says Chinoy, the firm's VFX supervisor.

"It hasn't been too difficult to get people to come over. You kind of forget that you're in Croydon as a whole - not that Croydon is really a bad place to be in, it's turning around, I think," he says.

Hundsness adds that "right now there's one magical moment you can get floor space for a fifth of the price of [central] London, you can actually build an enterprise and create things.

"Croydon has got its issues, it's figuring itself out but the bigger identity it has, is that it's kind of scrappy - it gets things done. It's sort of edgy and hardcore."

Disauthority has expanded into feature films and has produced a police horror, set in the 1990s, called Sticks and Stones.

With a tight budget, it was shot at a military base in Croydon 10 minutes walk from the office on High Street.

They found Croydon to be well set up for location filming, with support from the council and local people.

Famous champions of the borough include Stormzy and Sir Idris Elba.

Green says both have specifically suggested Croydon as a film location in projects they have been involved in as an effort to give it some "positive notoriety".

"It's a very regenerative borough," she says. "There's always something going on, things are changing at a rapid pace in a really brilliant way, and that's down to the locals and people from Croydon wanting the best for their borough."

FilmFixer will be running Set Ready Training in Croydon in May, which is a free two-day course to get people into the industry.

Previous applicants have started as marshals on film sets, but some have gone on to have careers behind the camera.

The young people already working in film in the borough, believe Croydon - so used to being in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons - really is becoming a creative hub.

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