West Midlands production gets £3m boost

An additional £3m of investment is made available to feature films and high-end TV drama through Creative England's West Midlands Production Fund (WMPF) for 2015.

The organisation has also revised its guidelines, opening the fund up to more projects.

As well as increasing the maximum investment per project to £1m, the fund will now offer productions a mixture of debt and equity and can accept matched co-investment from both private and other public sector sources including BFI, BBC, C4 and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) on terms to be agreed.

WMPF is supported through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and accepts applications from producers already based in Birmingham and the West Midlands as well as from production companies looking to bring projects to the region on the condition that they show a strong commercial proposition and an economically positive impact on the area.

Richard Holmes, senior film executive at Creative England, said: "This uplifted funding and more flexible guidelines will make the West Midlands region an even more attractive destination for TV and film producers looking for diverse locations, a talented workforce and dynamic production services support.

"We've seen some fantastic productions film in the West Midlands with support from WMPF, most recently Pinewood, Shine and Kudos' Spooks: The Greater Good and Altitude's The Call Up. Now we're stepping up a gear, with a greater focus on the TV production sector and a pragmatic investment model designed to attract new commercially-focused businesses. Our doors are open."

WMPF has previously supported projects such as Road to Guantanamo, the documentary One Mile Away and high rating TV series Hustle, Line of Duty and Emmy-nominated Dancing on the Edge.

For more details on how to apply for the fund please visit the Creative England website. 
 



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