Made in the South West: Film, TV and Digital Media in the Region

The South West of England is home to some of the most exciting, creative and successful media companies in the UK.

Click the links below to watch 'Made in the South West' a short film (approx 5 mins) profiling the huge range of film, TV and digital media creativity in the region. The film may take a couple of minutes to download.

Read on for some useful facts about the South West

The South West of England is the largest region in England, occupying 18% of its land and extending 350km from North to South. It boasts three World Heritage sites and 60% of the nation's stock of heritage coastline. It is also the fastest growing region in England, with a hugely diverse cultural and geographical landscape attracting filmmakers and creatives from all over the world.

The Creative Industries sector in the South West employs 89,000 people and generates over £9.3 bn in revenues and £1.68bn GVA. Within the Creative Industries Sector the Audio Visual sub sector is the largest contributor to business revenues, accounting for 66.6% and generating 47% of GVA; its turnover in 2001 was worth £3.7bn.

The South West generates an estimated £153m of television production each year, which makes it the third highest in the UK after London and the North West. In 2004 the region received £105m of network commissions from major UK channels, the majority of which were for factual programmes.

The media sector in the South West has strengths in four key areas: animation; specialist factual production; natural history production and digital media. There are over 1800 digital media companies in the region employing 3,236 people.

Natural history output in Bristol alone accounts for 25% of the world's natural history programming and the city is also home to Oscar winners Aardman as well as other major animation companies such as bolexbrothers and A Productions. In Cheltenham and Gloucester there are a cluster of media companies - again some significant animation players such as Red Collar Productions - based around the Cheltenham Film Studios and in Plymouth there are another cluster of companies such as Smith and Watson; Denhams and Two Four Productions who have a thriving production and new media business and have recently opened new studios in the city.

The South West region is also home to a network of higher education institutions with a recognisable strength in film, media and digital media. The only Skillset Screen Academy in England outside London is based in Bournemouth - which is also home to the Centre of Excellence in Media Practice. Undergraduate and post-graduate provision is also good elsewhere in the region - Broadcast Journalism at Falmouth College of Arts; Screen Writing at the University of Exeter and Animation and Digital Media at the University of West of England.

Exhibition provision in the South West is very diverse. The region has a mix of metropolitan, urban, suburban and rural locations with venues, festivals and other moving image initiatives operating in each of these at different levels, providing local and regional identities. For example international and specialist festivals (Encounters); Wildscreen (the largest natural history film festival in the world); rural festivals (Purbeck Film Festival); local festivals (START and Cornwall Film Festival). The region is extremely fortunate in having Watershed in Bristol - the country's first media centre established in 1984. Watershed is a key driver in many ways - as a venue for a range of screenings, festivals and special events; as a distributor via its web portal D Shed and as a focal point for moving image activity in the South West.

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