Calum Goddard-Mocklow

Brilliant to see announced that the WMCA will accelerate support for our world class creative industries through new funding for the region - following just a couple of weeks on from news of our renewed MOU with the BBC bringing investment to the regional screen sector. Thanks to Rachael Wadsworth and Eleanor G. for your work to bring this to life in DCMS and to the many colleagues who have supported us in making the collective case for creativity in the West Midlands. The West Midlands Combined Authority is one of six UK regions with strengths in creative industries that have been awarded £25 million as part of the Government’s Creative Places Growth Fund. This funding will grow the already booming creative industries of the West Midlands - including film and TV, video games, createch, music and performing arts and design. The region is home to over 15,000 creative enterprises, including Digbeth Loc Studios and BBC StudioWorks, while Birmingham, the biggest city in the region, has World Craft City status. The fund was announced in the Creative Industries Sector Plan in June, as part of Industrial Strategy, where the Government shared their intention to invest £150 million in the creative industries of six regions outside of London - Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, North East, West of England, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy revealed that the fund will be split equally across these regions to drive growth, innovation and investment.The fund will empower local Mayors to support creative professionals, businesses and young people in their communities with access to finance, mentoring and networking opportunities to help them connect with investors and skills programmes. Lisa Nandy, Culture Secretary, said: “Creativity has no postcode - whether it’s a musician in Birmingham, a filmmaker in Coventry, or a video games developer in Wolverhampton. “We know that it is not one size fits all. That’s why we are committed to growing our creative industries in every corner of the nation as part of our Creative Industries Sector Plan, and hope that this devolved funding will be just what these regions need to make their creative industries the best that they can be.” Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Our region is well known for its grit and graft as the manufacturing heart of Britain. But our film and TV sets, gaming studios, music venues, theatre stages, and digital workshops are also fast becoming a major part of our regional economy. “We have the talent, the locations and now the government’s backing to write a new chapter of growth - one that turns more of our stories into exciting jobs and new opportunities. This is about putting our people and places centre stage in the UK’s fast growing creative sector.”

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After 70 years of broadcasting, ITV found themselves in a familiar but uncomfortable spot – they’d grown so much that their own brand had become difficult to navigate. Multiple sub-channels, streaming platforms and an increasingly complex visual identity meant that one of Britain’s most established broadcasters was, ironically, struggling to clearly communicate who they were. The problem wasn’t unique, but it was urgent. In an entertainment landscape where Netflix and Disney+ communicate with razor-sharp brand clarity, ITV’s identity had become what Tom Houser, Executive Creative Director at ITV Creative, describes as “timid and difficult to use.” Seven different typefaces were in circulation. Sub-channel colours created confusion rather than clarity. The masterbrand – the thing that actually mattered – was getting lost. Enter Studio Kiln, the Cornwall-based creative practice whose approach to this challenge would prove rather direct. Rather than adding more elements to an already complex system, they stripped everything back to find what actually mattered. Read the complete case study → t-bi.link/itv

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As the TV industry convenes at the Edinburgh TV Festival this week, our new research has exposed the scale of the crisis facing freelance television workers 🎬 The Big Bectu Survey 2025 with more than 3,600 respondents across TV drama, unscripted and factual television, broadcasting and commercials paints a stark picture of a workforce battered by instability, poor conditions and toxic workplace cultures. Nearly half of those surveyed reported being out of work in March, with 45% of drama crew, 46% of unscripted workers and 45% of commercials staff unemployed. The effects of the 2023 US industrial action continue to be felt, with fewer than one in five saying employment levels have returned to pre-strike norms. Financial insecurity is widespread: 68% of respondents said they are struggling to make ends meet, while one in three is considering leaving the industry within five years. Our findings also reveal the uneven impact of the downturn. Workers from Global Majority backgrounds, disabled freelancers and those from working-class backgrounds all reported higher levels of unemployment than their counterparts, raising concerns that the crisis is driving diversity out of the sector. Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said the findings laid bare the devastating consequences of insecure employment and entrenched poor practice: “Behind every statistic is a skilled professional who is critical to our world-class TV industry, but is being driven out by unstable work, poor conditions and toxic cultures. Without urgent action from broadcasters, streamers and production companies, we risk losing a generation of talent and further entrenching inequality in the industry. This is a wake-up call.” Bectu is urging government and industry leaders to act swiftly to stabilise employment, improve protections for freelancers, tackle bullying and harassment, and commit to supporting the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority. https://lnkd.in/exC-NeZD

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Today RNZ Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief Paul Thompson outlined the next steps for RNZ in an ever-changing media landscape.   Paul highlighted the transformation of RNZ into a public multimedia organisation that began 11 years ago and has seen our audience grow from around 600,000 to more than 3m.   But he says this growth doesn’t mean we should turn our back on the fabulous medium that is audio.   Read the full column that includes RNZ’s plans for audio here: https://lnkd.in/ggirWmUA

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