Wales is aiming to become a leading force in TV and film innovation with the launch of Media Cymru, a £50 million collaboration that will create hundreds of jobs and support the creation of new start-ups in the media sector over the next five years.
Media Cymru is led by Cardiff University, with government funding provided through UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund, Welsh Government through Creative Wales, additional support from Cardiff Council, industry and university partners, as well as the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) City Deal.
Wales is already one of the best-performing and third-largest media clusters in the UK after London and Manchester, creating one in eight of all new UK jobs in film and TV. There are 1,318 firms currently active in the audiovisual media sector in the region, generating an annual turnover of £545 million and employing more than 10,000 people.
Professor Justin Lewis, director of Media Cymru, said: “Cardiff and the surrounding capital region has already situated itself as a major player in the media industry. The Media Cymru funding allows us to be even more ambitious – to make Wales a global leader in media innovation – with a focus on global, green and fair economic growth.”
Media Cymru has funding of up to £10,000 for freelancers and SMEs to develop ideas for new products and services; up to £50,000 for businesses to develop RD&I projects that demonstrate clear potential for a tangible product or service; and up to £200,000 for projects of significant scale and ambition that have the potential to be transformational for the sector with international impact.
Projects currently greenlit include Green Cymru, which sees Ffilm Cymru Wales – the development agency for Welsh film – use funding from Media Cymru to provide solutions to green challenges in the screen industry and support the scale-up of sustainable products, services, and processes.
