Awards of up to £500,000 will be available to TV and film projects from region

A multi-million-pound fund has been established in the West of England to grow the number of film and TV productions in the region.

The £4.5m pot is administered by Greenlight West, which is managed by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, and is the biggest boost for production in the area in more than a decade.

It is aimed at increasing the quantity, range and scale of projects coming out of the region, which is the UK’s third largest screen production hub, with recent titles filmed or produced there including Rivals (Disney+), Down Cemetery Road (Apple TV), Bridgerton (Netflix), Planet Earth III (BBC) and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (BBC and Netflix).

Awards of between £50,000 to £500,000 will be available for “ambitious, commercially viable screen productions” that can demonstrate the meaningful impact they will bring to the region, such as local spend, employment, skills development and other benefits.

Productions filming in the region, made or led by regionally-based companies, and those carrying out significant post-production work locally are all eligible to apply for investment.

The fund has differentiated itself from similar incentives in the UK by making the funding non-recoupable, which is expected to enhance the West of England’s competitive edge as a filming region.

Investments made by Greenlight West are forecast to generate £20.7m in production spend, supporting more than 230 jobs, alongside freelancers, local suppliers and the wider screen supply chain.

The fund is the first investment from the £25m secured by the West of England from the DCMS’s Creative Places Growth Fund – and is one of six regions to unlock government funding.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Through the Creative Places Growth Fund, we’re putting funding in the hands of local leaders, giving them the freedom to invest in what works for their communities and creative sectors.

“Greenlight West is a great example of that approach in action: backing local jobs, skills and businesses, while helping the region compete for more major productions. I can’t wait to see the fantastic productions that come out of the West of England off the back of this.”

Helen Godwin, mayor for the West of England, added: “We’re serious about ramping up our region’s credentials as a filming hub even further, to grow this important sector and stimulate more spending, create more jobs and skills opportunities for local people.

“With this new incentive we’re sending a clear message to the sector. We want you to make more magic here in the West Country, tell more stories from our region, and show off more of our places on screen – with all the tourism benefits that brings. We’re here to help you invest, recruit, and train locally and we look forward to harnessing the power that your film and TV production can bring to the country’s fastest-growing regional economy.”

Rachel Drummond-Hay, chair of the Royal Television Society West of England, said Greenlight West is a “fantastic” boost to the local TV sector.

“At a time when the commissioning landscape is undergoing significant change, becoming increasingly competitive and hard to navigate, an investment programme of this scale will have huge benefits for production companies, suppliers and freelancers alike,” she explained.