The filmmakers recreated a 1940’s dockside last April using Princes Wharf and the famous vintage pleasure steamer, Balmoral in order to recreate the period look needed for the movie.
Producer Paula Mazur explains: “Due to the period setting, a very specific look was needed to recreate 1940s Guernsey both during and just after the occupation”
“Bristol has a fantastic dockside museum, which has been beautifully preserved. It has enabled us to transform the exterior to represent Weymouth Docks in 1946.”
The production was helped by the Bristol Film Office which helped with location scouting, securing a unit base at Wapping Wharf, and sourcing costume stores and arranging holding areas for extras.
Natalie Moore of Bristol Film Office says: “Last year was particularly busy for feature films in Bristol – in addition to Guernsey we also assisted two other major upcoming features to film in the city, Stan & Ollie and Hellboy 3.
“Visiting shoots like these are so important to Bristol. They bring employment and spending that boosts our local economy – to the tune of £18.3 million last year alone.
“They show filmmakers in the UK and overseas that Bristol, a UNESCO City of Film, is a world class filming destination that is open for business.”
About the film:
Based on Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ best-selling novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society stars Lily James as free-spirited journalist Juliet Ashton, who forms a life-changing bond with the titular society when she decides to write about the book club they formed during the occupation of Guernsey in WWII.
The film also stars Glen Powell (Everybody Wants Some, Hidden Figures), Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game, Downton Abbey), Jessica Brown Findlay (Victor Frankenstein, Downton Abbey) and Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, The Boat That Rocked) with Tom Courtenay (45 Years, Doctor Zhivago) and Penelope Wilton (The BFG, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes to cinemas on 20th April 2018 via STUDIOCANAL.