Margate in the Movies

Margate has been a popular filming location for the last few years but this year we welcome the biggest production yet, a Sir Sam Mendes blockbuster.

It was only last year that Facebook and social media were awash with pictures of Jodie Cromer and Sandra Oh milling about in the old town, soaking up the sun on the beaches, etc. The Hollywood A-listers weren’t on their holidays but were actually shooting the popular television series Killing Eve. Margate primarily as well as other areas in Thanet doubled up as a set for the multi awardwinning drama. The stars and crew seemed to move for a good chunk of the summer as they were constantly spotted about town and as exciting as some found it most of us locals here in Margate are so used to it, in fact so popular is Margate with television and film crews that if you don’t see one or two a month it’s a rarity and almost noteworthy. Before the beaches are brimming, festivals in full swing and summer is shining upon us, we’re set to be visited by another star-studded production. As Margate welcomes Sir Sam Mendes, the filmmaker responsible for not only the best of the Bond films ‘Skyfall’ 2012 but a host of other impeccable titles such as: American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead and 1917. Empire of Light is the title of the film gathering a lot of talk on the coast, as the stage where it will be shot has a prominent spot on the Margate seafront. The plot of Empire of Light is unknown but it has been described as a love story set in and around a beautiful old cinema on the South Coast of England in the 1980s. Let’s hope the stars of the film have love stories of their own to talk of this spring and fall in love with the community of Margate. I’m sure we’d all welcome Tanya Moodie, Toby Jones, Colin Firth and the national treasure that is Olivia Colman to the gate, wouldn’t we?

by Dave McKenna