Investment in the sector and an item on the Mayoral agenda will drive growth and opportunities for all.
West Yorkshire is a cultural hub of diversity and there is a real need to preserve and nurture it along with the talent that lies across the region. From Bradford Literature Festival to Beyond Brontës and the Kala Sangam Arts Centre, the rich history and diversity of our region is enhanced.
Together, the established and newer platforms and activities exist to further develop, support and showcase the breadth and depth of talent and engage with wider communities across our region and beyond.
The Leeds 2023 ‘Let Culture Loose’ campaign launched late spring, and the Bradford bid for UK City of Culture 2025 has reached the next stage, making the shortlist of eight, with the winner to be announced next spring. This is fantastic news for the region and fitting recognition of all the hard work that has been done in Bradford to date for the bid. These initiatives demonstrate the pride we have in our cultures and heritage and portray a vision for a more equal, fair, and accepting culture across West Yorkshire. This activity will naturally generate opportunities and representation for a cross-section of our society, whether as a participant or spectator and there is genuine potential for the arts, culture and creative industries to not only create jobs and develop skills but enrich lives and improve wellbeing.
Furthermore, the West Yorkshire region emerged as a TV production hotspot since Leeds won the 2018 bid to house the national HQ of Channel 4, which accounts for £492 million of production spend in the UK. Of this, Channel 4 spent £189 million on production in the nations and regions in 2019 and £141 million in 2020 (DCMS analysis). Since then, there have been significant investments made by West Yorkshire public bodies to support the creative industries, which have generated a sense of momentum and boosted investment, as well as job creation, in the region.
Earlier this year, Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (the LEP) launched Indielab West Yorks: The Creative Catalyst Accelerator, designed to help the region’s content producers attract higher volumes of higher-value work. Applications opened for TV and Gaming businesses on 19 October and the programme begins early 2022; including, masterclasses from industry experts, bespoke seminars and mentoring to enable them to refine their business vision and explore business-specific growth opportunities.
Funding from The Creative Catalyst – the Indie TV and Film Development Fund, delivered jointly by the LEP and Screen Yorkshire, helped 13 businesses continue creating new content during the pandemic in 2020. The fund supported 22 projects for local indies and freelancers working in the TV and film industry. Mark Robinson, Founder and Creative Director at Wise Owl Films, said they “were delighted” to receive a grant which had “helped with developing ideas.” The Creative Catalyst is a £1.5 million LEP funded programme that will deliver further support to the industry within the next six months to help drive growth for creative businesses across the region and establish an ecosystem to support economic recovery.
The Mayor is a champion of this support and is keen to act as a spokesperson to help drive and amplify this activity, and just last week Screen Yorkshire held the Mayor of West Yorkshire’s Special Presentation of Ali and Ava at The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. This dedication to the creative industries, alongside her pledge to lead a creative new deal, plays its part to ensure regional creative industries are part of the broader recovery strategy post-pandemic.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:
“I know all too well the power that businesses can have in helping to shape and protect the future of our creative industries. One of my key goals as Mayor is to help this sector flourish and this wouldn’t be possible without the support of the wider business community here in Yorkshire.
“The North has such a rich history of strong storytelling, driven by the lived experiences of our diverse population and it is absolutely vital that we allow this to thrive. This is why I have been campaigning to help protect Channel 4 in its current form, an organisation that plays a key role in helping provide a voice to many groups who have been underrepresented for far too long. We have to give people who would otherwise be unable to access these exciting career opportunities the chance to fulfil their potential and having Channel 4 in Leeds is key to this.
“As we recover from the pandemic, it is more important than ever for us to protect and support this flourishing industry and enable those communities that are so often neglected to provide a fresh, truly Yorkshire narrative that can resonate across the nation.”
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