On October 3 at 7.30pm in the Arcadian Centre in Birmingham, celebrities, producers, directors, financiers, press and other industry professionals walked down the red carpet to the entrance of the UGC Cinema to see for the first time the fruits of Screen West Midlands? first production scheme, finally on show after storming to success nationally and internationally earlier this year.
It was with some relief but without surprise, notes Alexandra Heybourne, that I, the grey-haired soul who had organised the event, saw every available seat filled in the 400-seater auditorium.
?Bouncer?, starring Ray Winstone, was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award, appeared at the Soho Shorts, was publicly commended at Edinburgh International Film Festival and will be appearing at Raindance in London. Not to be outdone, ?The End and Back Again? starring new talents, has cleaned up internationally, having been accepted for the Cork, Denver, Sydney and LA film festivals, as well as to appear closer to home at the Birmingham International Film and Television Festival later this month.
Screen West Midlands runs two production schemes: ?Digital Shorts? is partnered by the Film Council?s New Cinema Fund and allows eight filmmakers from the West Midlands region to make a ten-minute film using digital technology; the other scheme, ?First Cut?, is in association with Carlton Television and allows new talents to have their final work broadcast on ITV. We have also secured £500,000 Lottery funding through the Film Council for sector and production development, open to companies across the UK as long as their project will benefit the West Midlands region.
Our aim is to support, promote and develop all aspects of the screen media industry in the West Midlands, and production only makes up one side of that work. We also market the region through locations and find training solutions for a range of enquiries. We contribute funding to help ensure the preservation of the region?s rich screen heritage and work with educational institutions to promote screen media as a learning tool. In addition to this, we support the Birmingham International Film and Television Festival and other regional events like Imagine Asia in Wolverhampton, and work with the region?s cinemas on audience development.
By the end of the year our team will have doubled and we will have moved to the UK?s first global media village on the east side of town. There will also be more networking events that have helped to bring our region together and we are looking forward to receiving further investment for the film, television and new media sectors in the West Midlands.
Alexandra Heybourne is Communications Assistant for Screen West Midlands, the support agency for screen media in the West Midlands. t: 0121 643 9309; e: info@screenwm.co.uk; w: http://www.screenwm.co.uk