Wales: TV and film generates £155m for economy since 2020

Wales has become popular with filmmakers over recent years

The TV and film industry has generated £155.6m of production spend into the Welsh economy since 2020.

In 2021, the Welsh screen sector saw a turnover of £575 million, a 36% increase from the year before.

Creative Wales, the Welsh government's creative agency, also reported £14.2m of production funding since its inception in January 2020.

In the last two years, Creative Wales has received over 900 production enquiries to film in Wales.

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The 2021 British Film Institute's Screen Report showed that investment in filmmaking from organisations like Creative Wales has resulted in a nine-fold increase in the country's economic output.

A funding boost of £180,000 has also been made available to support the development of Welsh Language film and provide financial support to develop talent and ideas.

BBC director general Tim Davie and Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden MS announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding in September 2021

The agency also says its agreement with BBC Wales and S4C, signed in September 2021 is seeing an increased partnership working in Wales "to tell uniquely Welsh stories and supporting independent production companies".

"The partnerships have resulted in many positive developments in content development and actions on the skills agenda which all aim to build on contribution of the creative sector to economic growth," it added.

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In 2022 Creative Wales relaunched its production funding, and for the first time included support for the games industry.

The new funding stream was announced at a games conference in San Francisco in a bid to attract more companies to produce games in Wales or for Welsh firms to develop new intellectual property.

As part of BBC Radio 6 Music Festival, Creative Wales hosted the fringe festival which showcased 150 artists at 29 events in 12 venues around Cardiff.

Deputy minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden, said: "We've seen unprecedented growth in the creative sectors over recent years and it's been wonderful to see Wales' unique locations on screen.

"Our focus on skills will continue in the new year - to ensure that we can deliver the demand for skills and talent for this growing sector."

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