Welsh Government assists Fox 21 Television Studios to revive ‘sleeping Dragon’ Studios

Welsh Government has scored another major success for the TV and film industry in Wales by assisting Fox 21 Television Studios to secure the lease for the long-time vacant Dragon Studios at Pencoed.

Minister for Economy Edwina Hart has welcomed the decision by US-based Fox 21 Television Studios to take over the studio for production of its latest historic TV blockbuster series The Bastard Executioner, from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter.  Read more.

Image credit - Economy Minister Edwina Hart at Dragon Studios, Pencoed where The Bastard Executioner is being made, with Giles Masters, Production Designer and Paris Barclay, Executive Producer.

Deputy Minister flies Welsh flag in LA during UK Film & Television Week The Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates, recently flew the Welsh flag at the UK Film and Television Week in Los Angeles to promote our thriving creative industries sector and attract more high-quality international production to Wales. Wales is now the UK’s biggest creative industries base outside of London, with recent international success’ including Da Vinci’s Demons and The Bastard Executioner.  Read more.

Their Finest Hour and a Half creates significant economic benefits after seven week shoot in Wales Their Finest Hour and a Half – the latest film to be backed by the Welsh Government’s £30m Media Investment Budget – has just concluded filming in Wales creating a range of significant economic benefits. Fifty per cent of the filming was shot on location in Swansea and South West Wales over the past seven weeks and included Swansea’s Grand Theatre and the Guildhall - which double up as the Ministry of Information and Whitehall, together with a number of locations in Pembrokeshire including Trecwn Valley, Freshwater West, Porthgain Harbour, Haverfordwest’s Palace Cinema and The Cresselly Arms in Cresswell Quay. Read more.

Trampires and Animortal Studios brings new blood and 90 new jobs First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones has visited a new, modern, high tech animation studio in Bridgend. Shooting has begun on a new stop motion animated feature film, entitled ‘Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires’ creating up to 90 new jobs. Read more.

Welsh Government and Microsoft launch Greenshoots pilot in Wales A pilot project aimed at supporting start-up games developers in Wales will see four successful companies get a one off £25,000 grant to build new titles – and gain access to expert guidance from Microsoft. It follows a partnership between the Welsh Government and Microsoft to launch a Welsh version of Microsoft’s Greenshoots games development project for start ups. Read more.

West Coast Group expansion plans brings new jobs The West Coast Group – which specialises in games and software development – outlined their expansion plans when their new studios in Aberystwyth were officially opened by Economy Minister Edwina Hart. The Group - which comprises West Coast Games and West Coast Software – delivers a diverse portfolio of projects ranging from developing new interactive games to creating software for industrial applications. Read more.

Green Man wins Best British Festival at Live Music Awards 2015 Green Man was awarded the coveted Best Festival Award, at the Live Music Business Awards. Prominent experts that include a panel of high profile artists, agents and artist managers, judge the award.  Congratulating festival organisers Economy Minister Edwina Hart said: “This is quite an accolade and well deserved. Green Man is the largest contemporary music and arts festival in Wales and I am pleased the Welsh Government provides support as it helps promote Welsh culture and our dynamic creative industries to an international audience while also providing a boost for tourism.”  Read more

Wales’ thriving creative industries celebrated at BAFTA Cymru Wales’ thriving creative industries was celebrated in Cardiff recently at the prestigious BAFTA Cymru awards. Held at the Wales Millennium Centre, BAFTA Cymru honoured excellence in Welsh film and television. The Creative Industries is a priority area for Welsh Government and is now one of Wales’ fastest growing sectors. Recent statistics show the number of people working in this industry in Wales increased by 52% between 2005 and 2014, with nearly 50,000 people now employed by the sector.    Read more.

First Minister announces £115 million to boost innovation The First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones has announced a £115 million package of support to boost innovation leading to the creation of hundreds of new products and high quality jobs across Wales. With support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and private sector investment, the Welsh Government is launching two new innovation projects: SMART Cymru and SMART Expertise. Read more.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover: New feature length drama filmed in Wales premiered Set against a backdrop of breath-taking Welsh scenery and supported by a stellar cast and crew, Lady Chatterley’s Lover set the small screen alight when it recently premiered on BBC1. Based on the infamous DH Lawrence novel about a love affair which crosses class boundaries, Lady Chatterley’s Lover is just one example of how the creative industries sector is blossoming in Wales according the Economy, Science and Transport Minister, Edwina Hart. Read more.  Image - Courtesy of Hartswood Films and Joss Barratt

Welsh Trade Mission to San Francisco The West Coast of the United States was the focus the Welsh Government’s latest trade mission as it lead a delegation of ten Welsh companies from across the ICT and creative industries spectrum to San Francisco. The five-day day mission from 27 September until 2 October had been specifically organised to coincide with the GMIC (Global Mobile Internet Conference), Silicon Valley’s largest mobile conference which attracts thousands of visitors from over 60 countries. Read more.

The Lead Creative Schools Scheme – Creative Learning through the Arts

This joint Welsh Government and Arts Council of Wales scheme will ensure real improvement in the way that the arts, creative and education sectors work together to deliver important benefits for learners and their schools.  The scheme, which is part of the 5-year plan for Creative Learning through the Arts, aims to put creative learning and the arts at the heart of learning in schools to improve attainment through creativity; increase and improve arts experience and opportunities in schools; deliver on the three education priorities; improving literacy, numeracy, and reducing the impact of disadvantage; support teachers and arts practitioners in developing their skills.

Across Wales, 131 schools have been selected to take part in the first round and over the course of the 5-year plan the scheme will be available to approximately a third of all Welsh schools. Read more about the scheme here .

Milk VFX’s new Welsh base in Gloworks opens

The official opening of Milk VFX’s new Welsh base in Gloworks took place on 22 September. Welsh Government funding, plus the availability of a suitable location in Gloworks secured the presence in Cardiff of this high profile London-based visual effects company. Credits include Poltergeist, Hercules, 24: Live Another Day, Sherlock, Dr. Who and BBC TV drama Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. With the addition of the company into Gloworks, the building is now up to full capacity. Find out more about Milk VFX.

Businesses looking for advice need only contact the BOSS

An enhanced new on-line business support service has been launched by Welsh Government to ensure access to Business Wales support is available to all entrepreneurs and businesses at any time and any place.

The free to use Business Online Support Service (BOSS) is designed to transform on-line support and complement face-to-face learning. Read more.

Champion panel appointed to drive forward global innovation-driven entrepreneurship programme

Economy Minister Edwina Hart has appointed a multi-disciplinary team of influential and highly successful individuals to drive forward the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP) for Wales.

Wales was selected last year to participate in the programme, which is a global initiative designed to help regions accelerate economic growth and job creation through innovation-driven entrepreneurship. Read more.

Welsh Government responds to Labour Market Statistics

First Minister Carwyn Jones has commented on the latest Labour Market Statistics: “As a pro-business government, our policies mean Wales is continuing to outperform the rest of the UK in terms of increasing employment and reducing levels of economic inactivity.

Over the past 12 months employment in Wales has increased at a faster rate than almost everywhere else in UK and now stands at a level close to a historic high. Economic inactivity in Wales is also close to a record low - down by 40,000 over the year, compared to a fall of just 13,000 across the UK as a whole over the same time. Unemployment in Wales has also fallen over the quarter and the year.”

Wales Retail Relief scheme extended and enhanced to help traders

Economy Minister Edwina Hart has announced the Welsh Government has extended and enhanced the Wales Retail Relief scheme for 2015-16 which will help retail businesses cut up to £1500 off their rates bill.

Last year more than 10,500 retailers across Wales benefited from the scheme which cut annual rates bills by up to £1,000. Read more.

Welsh Government’s 60% new exports increase

New export business secured by companies supported by the Welsh Government in the last financial year has reached £52million. This is an increase of nearly 60% on the previous year and the highest recorded figure in the last five years. Read more.

Europe Matters to Wales - What can the EU do for Creative and Cultural Industries in Wales? – Caernarfon, 12 November 2015

Organised by Creative Europe, this free event provides you with the opportunity to find out about how a variety of European Union programmes and support services can benefit your organisation.

Amongst those attending will be representatives from Erasmus+, Horizon 2020, Interreg, Wales Arts International, Enterprise Europe Network, Europe Direct, European Commission Office in Wales and WEFO in attendance. Find out more.

ExploreExport – Cardiff, 12 November 2015

ExploreExport returns to Cardiff at the SWALEC Stadium, building on the success of last year - offering more markets, new seminars and more exhibitors.

Find out more about the markets, view the programme of seminars and register for the event here.

Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), Mexico,  28 November – 5 December 2015

FiL, one of the largest international cultural and creative industries events, takes place annually in Jalisco, Mexico.  More than one million guests are expected to attend FiL this year, including over 300 rights directors, 3,000 journalists and Media outlets and 30,000 publishers attending.  This is a perfect place to build up contacts with potential co-producers, licensors, rights producers, commissioners, content distributors and IP specialists who can help you export your work, as well as source outstanding location and collaboration opportunities. 

This year the UK will be the country of honour at FiL and Wales has an opportunity of being centre stage following a Memorandum of Understanding and strategic partnership being signed between the State of Jalisco and Wales.

Delegates will participate as part of a creative industries reception, workshops and exhibitions during FIL, to showcase Wales to the world. 

Welsh Government is offering a limited number of places for creative companies and individuals from Wales to attend this international opportunity. Places are extremely limited so please find out more and register here as soon as possible. 

Game Developers’ Conference – San Francisco, USA, 13 – 19 March 2016

Welsh Government is inviting Welsh businesses to take part in a trade mission to the Game Developers’ Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.

The cost of participation to eligible Welsh companies is approximately £1,080. Welsh Government will provide support to cover additional costs for one delegate per company and includes advice on pre mission project support, pre mission briefing event, return flights, in-market transfers, 6 nights’ accommodation, participation in in-market briefing / reception, GDC basic expo pass.

You will have the opportunity to showcase your work and secure new business at the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, gaining inspiration, and networking. Your business will be introduced to a range of prospects, including venture capitalists and leading experts in the market.

Find out more and submit your expression of interest here.

Agile Nation 2 - Chwarae Teg

Building on the success of the first Agile Nation project where over 2,900 women participated, Chwarae Teg are now looking for more women who also want the opportunity to take part in a proven and highly respected career development programme. Find out more.

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