£2m fund to attract more film producers to West Midlands
It has been a setting for crime thrillers, historical dramas and zombie epics.
And now millions of pounds is being set aside to attract more film productions to the West Midlands.
Funding for the creative industries in the West Midlands is being refocused on film and digital media production.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has announced that £2.1 million is to be put into a production fund and a new screen bureau for the region.
The West Midlands Production Fund is to be finalised and re-opened later this year. Creative England is in final contract negotiations with Government to secure the investment to bring productions to the region.
The WMPF has already supported a number of productions, including The Girl With All The Gifts, which starred Glenn Close, and Paddy Considine; Jawbone, and Spooks: The Greater Good.
The Girl With All The Gifts, a hit zombie film, was filmed across the West Midlands in 2015.
It brought the fatal Attraction actress to the region in a film that went on to be Bafta nominated.
It was set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia with zombies roaming the world and a select group of children, infected with the virus, studied and mutilated in a hope to find the cure.
The film was shot across the Midlands and Shropshire including streets in Birmingham and Dudley, a derelict Dudley hospital, the former Powergen facility in Shirley and the grounds of Cannock Chase.
Other productions, like Peaky Blinders, have shown how the Midlands can accommodate big budget productions and Mr Street said he wanted to see more film crews descend on the region.
He said: “The potential for the creative and digital industries in the West Midlands is vast. These high growth and future-facing sectors not only offer huge job potential but also drive innovation and support other important industries.
“We are working to attract inward investors at one end of the scale, while encouraging the creation and growth of new businesses at the other.
“The West Midlands Production Fund and Screen Bureau will play a key part in both of these efforts. By bringing together regional partners and industry leaders in the film, TV and digital production sectors, the West Midlands will have a much more powerful voice and a clearer direction," said Mr Street.
The initiatives were confirmed at the launch of a national Creative Industries Toolkit in Birmingham. The toolkit is designed to showcase and stimulate regional creative economies, and will be rolled out across the country in the next year.
