A national conference for the film and TV industry hosted by Mayor Dan Norris is coming to the West of England next week. The two-day Creative Cities Convention will take place at the recently refurbished Bristol Beacon, with Mr Norris opening proceedings (next Tuesday 23 April at 1pm).
Around 350 delegates are expected to attend, with sessions from the country’s top creatives including those from ITV Studios, Netflix, Channel 4 and BAFTA, to name just a few, with BBC journalist and broadcaster Kirsty Wark from Newsnight taking charge of hosting duties, supported by presenters Qasa Alom and Stacey Olika.
The Mayor’s address follows a number of positive developments in the West of England film and TV sector in the last 18 months, including the opening of not one but two new film studios - the £12 million Mayoral Combined Authority-funded Bottle Yard Studios expansion (TBY2) as well as the £1 million Box7 studio that doubles up as a nightclub – both opened by the regional Mayor.
Mayor Dan Norris has also launched his £3 million Culture West scheme to open up the creative sector to more people, including offering every child in the West of England at least one “cultural experience” per year.
West of England Mayor Dan Norris, who has backed the region’s “world-leading” creative industries with millions in additional funding since his election in May 2021, said:
“I am delighted to welcome the Creative Cities Convention to the West of England – the Hollywood of the UK.
“800 million people every month watch programmes produced in this great region. Over 35% of global natural history content is made in our part of the world. Plus my Mayoral Combined Authority is backing the extraordinary wealth of creative talent we have in the West through things like Culture West.
“This is a great opportunity to put our great region on the map, and help shine a spotlight on some of the big global brands, fantastic sustainable studios and groundbreaking innovation in the UK creative industries - including what the West has to offer.
“It sends yet another strong message that our world-leading creative sector here in the West of England is thriving.”
Conference director Ruth Pitt added: “The West of England has one of the biggest production sectors in the country and leads the world in Natural History programming.
"The region has everything that a film, TV or digital producer could ever want - and we’re delighted to be bringing our conference to the Bristol Beacon this year."
Last year’s conference took place in Newcastle. This year’s event will be made up of an afternoon of sessions from the likes of BBC 3, Paramount Plus and the director of ITV’s hit docudrama Mr Bates vs The Post Office about the Horizon Scandal, and a networking party on day one.
There will then be a day of debate and discussion on day two, including an address by the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Thangam Debbonaire MP, and historian and TV presenter David Olusoga OBE.
Cast members from the upcoming series of Bristol-based hit BBC drama series, The Outlaws, will also be appearing.
There will also be student masterclasses and sessions at Arnolfi as investment into the sector sparks more programme-making in the Hollywood of the UK.
