West Midlands provides grants to ship movie and TV concepts

Local inventive companies within the West Midlands are being provided the prospect to bid for funding to assist convey their concepts to actuality.

The newest spherical of the West Midlands IP Fund will open later this month, providing grants of as much as £20,000.

The fund has already backed initiatives together with the revival of youngsters’s favorite Bagpuss and the brand new BBC drama The Hairdresser Mysteries, each set to be filmed within the area.

Five TV collection and three function movies have been commissioned after being developed by manufacturing corporations within the area with help from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), Create Central, and Creative UK.

Regional mayor Richard Parker stated: “We’re unlocking the potential of homegrown creatives to get their ideas off the storyboard right here in the West Midlands.

“These are the sorts of alternatives that create jobs and appeal to funding.”

The mayor recently signed an agreement with the BBC to nearly double production spend in the region to £40m a year, creating more screen industry jobs and training opportunities.

Local film-makers Ché from Wolverhampton and Anton from Birmingham, who run Acclaimed Content, are examples of the fund’s impact.

Their BBC Three documentary Queen of Trucks followed Shannan Paterson running an HGV driving school in Willenhall. The project helped them secure further commissions, including a Channel 4 gameshow, Family Face Off.

Ché said: “Getting the prospect to develop Queen of Trucks was very important. It gave us our first fee and obtained us within the room with commissioners. Now we’re working with a number of broadcasters.”

Ed Shedd, chair of Create Central, said the next phase of the fund would provide more opportunities for regional production companies to develop original ideas.

Paul Ashton, head of film & TV at Creative UK, added: “Development funding is essential for regional display corporations to show concepts into profitable initiatives.”