Mission to Mexico aims to create reciprocal business opportunities

A creative industries delegation from Wales flew to Mexico recently to cement a growing relationship between the two countries and lay the foundations for an official Memorandum of Understanding to create reciprocal business opportunities.

The Welsh Government knowledge transfer mission (Oct 11-19 ), coordinated by content marketing agency Culture Group Ltd,  which has offices in Cardiff and Mexico, follows recent visits to Wales from Ministers of the Mexican state of Jalisco and the Mexican Ambassador to the UK.

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Cardiff as growing hub for gaming sector Economy Minister Edwina Hart has welcomed a Nesta report which reveals Cardiff is one of twelve emerging hubs of video game production in the UK. She said: “This is a fast growing market offering real economic opportunities which is why the Welsh Government is proactively supporting and promoting its growth in Wales through initiatives like the Digital Development Fund and the Wales Games Development”. Read more. Find out more about the map of the UK gaming industry.

Attracting more US TV and film production to Wales The drive to attract more high-end international film and TV drama production to Wales received a boost with a major promotion in Los Angeles during BFC UK Film and TV Week. Read more.   Image courtesy of Getty Images for British Film Co

Petroleum Spirit wraps Mirror Productions has announced that production has wrapped on Petroleum Spirit – a film shot in South Wales thanks to funding by Welsh Government. Petroleum Spirit was written and directed by acclaimed commercials Director Rob Sanders, produced by Evangelo Kioussis, with Simon Baxter and five-time James Bond Director John Glen Executive Producing the feature film. Read more on the film, production updates and additional projects, including Mirror’s next production (the horror satire ENDEMIC). Image  - © Crown Copyright (2014) Wales Screen

BAFTA Cymru Awards 2014 Held in Cardiff on 26 October, the big winners of the BAFTA Cymru Awards 2014 were Y Gwyll / Hinterland and Sherlock, each winning three awards. Many of the winners and runners up  have had support from Welsh Government including Y Gwyll / Hinterland, Sherlock, Da Vinci’s Demons, Rondo, Boom Pictures, Y Syrcas and Real SFX and we are delighted to see such success and recognition for their talent. Read more. Image courtesy of BAFTA Cymru / Huw John

Bang Post Production wins an Emmy

Cardiff based Bang Post Production celebrated after facing stiff competition in the USA to bring an Emmy back to Wales for their work on BBC’s Sherlock series.

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New Business Rates Relief Schemes

63 businesses in the seven Welsh Enterprise Zones have been awarded more than £3 million of support thanks to the Welsh Government Business Rate scheme, Economy Minister, Edwina Hart has announced.

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Also, if your business is re-occupying property that has been vacant for 12 months or longer, you could receive 50% relief on your business rates for up to 12 months through the Open for Business scheme. And for businesses moving into a newly-built, vacant, commercial property, the New Developments scheme can provide exemption from business rates for the first 18 months following completion. 

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MIPCOM 2014

MIPCOM in Cannes is one of the world’s largest markets for selling and buying entertainment content across all platforms.

The 2014 event took place between the 13th and 16th of October and saw a number of Welsh production companies attending the market to sell their content to network broadcasters.  
Representatives of Welsh Government Creative Industries Sector attended the event along with Welsh companies including Cwmni Da, Rondo, Cloth Cat Animation, Avanti, Tifini, Green Bay and Capital Law.

A Welsh reception was held by Welsh Government on the Monday with a showcase of Welsh cheese and beer.  The event was very well attended with presentations from Mark Hackett, Pinewood Studios Group and Julie Gardner, BBC Worldwide.

Read more on MIPCOM.

The Producers Forum

Creative Europe Desk UK - Wales, part of Welsh Government’s Creative Industries Sector, supported this year’s Producers Forum held at The Park Inn Hotel on 10 October. 

Representatives from Welsh Government took part in a panel session entitled ‘Supporting the Best of British’ alongside BFI Net.Work Wales, Ffilm Cymru Wales and S4C as well as holding one-to-one advisory sessions.

The day long event was attended by many Welsh film and television industry professionals and included sessions on crowdfunding, how to get your work distributed in cinemas, VFX in low budget movies and the new Pinewood Studio Wales.

The Producers Forum is part of The Iris Prize Festival which plays a key part in enabling and supporting new writers and producers to get their projects off the ground.

Find out more.

Afternoon Tea with the Games Commissioners,  Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

Creative Europe Desk UK - Wales is once again joining forces with BAFTA Cymru on 3 December to invite you to meet some of the UK's most successful commissioners and publishers from the games sector.

Following the successful “Breakfast with the Documentary Commissioners” and “Breakfast with the Drama Commissioners” events, they are holding an afternoon session with commissioners and publishers from the games sector who will talk about the very latest opportunities available for the games industry.

Register for the free event.