Julian Lewis Jones calls for more local talent in Wales-made films

Julian Lewis Jones also featured in long-running Sky comedy Stella starring Ruth Jones

More Welsh talent should be used in films made in Wales, according to Hollywood actor Julian Lewis Jones.

Jones, who starred in the film Invictus, said more films were being made in Wales but they were not about Wales and lacked Welsh talent.

The actor, from Anglesey, told an assembly committee the Welsh accent was seen as a problem by some drama and film producers from outside Wales.

"Stigma about our accent still exists," he told AMs.

Jones was addressing the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee's inquiry into film and major television production in Wales.

He said: "As an actor who has to go through this all the time… there is still a stigma there. Not everyone of course, but it exists in pockets."

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Although it was cheaper to make films in Wales, he said, that was not necessarily an advantage.

"What's been happening recently in Wales is we've been producing films as a location, but not necessarily with talent from Wales, and they are not films that stand for Wales.

"They are productions that come in to Wales - we're happy for them to do so and we're happy that these stars come to Wales and so on, but we in Wales are losing out because Welsh films aren't being made."

Giving evidence at the same session was award winning drama director Euros Lyn, who has worked on productions supported by the Welsh Government's Media Investment Budget aimed at attracting production companies to Wales.

"At the moment, the Welsh Government funding pot supports productions over £1m, but Welsh language productions and Welsh productions generally tend to have far smaller budgets and it would be wonderful to see some support for those productions too, because that's the route for actors and technicians and creatives to develop in the industry," he said

The Welsh Government said it "provides substantial support to indigenous Welsh films and projects that are broadcast on television and online platforms".