Death, destruction and deception may not be obvious things of which to be proud, but Screen WM counts them among its best achievements thus far.
The not-for-profit business was responsible for enticing the production of two of the BBC’s most important dramas – the smooth con-artist series Hustle, and Survivors, which is set in a world of mass extinction – to the Heart of England region.
Screen WM is the Heart of England’s lead agency for film, television and digital media, with a remit to develop the region’s economic, social and cultural wealth.
The not-for-profit company, based in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, has helped fund major projects – including films such as the critically-acclaimed Road to Guantanamo, Faintheart - world’s first user-generated content feature film; The Children; and current box office hit Nativity.
But Screen WM’s remit goes further than just helping pay for production: it tries to encourage the development of an entire sector within the Heart of England region. It is promoting innovations in education; lobbying regional and national government; encouraging experimentation with new forms of digital content and business models – it was behind Game Central, the region’s support network for games developers.
The business has been involved several cutting-edge digital projects, including Talk About Local, a UK-wide hyperlocal blogging platform and training initiative; Yoosk.com, which was used by the Cabinet Office as a platform to engage the public during the G20 summit in London; and WeVee - a digital archive ‘mashup’ platform and tool that contains a century’s worth of film achieve from across the Heart of England.
Jason Hall, Head of Innovation at Screen WM, said: “There are several major innovative digital projects going through contracting – some hugely exciting and ambitious that will have a national, probably international, reach. We want to focus on ensuring the region is punching above its weight nationally and internationally.”
or more information onScreen West Midlands, visit www.screenwm.co.uk