Creative Industries Lecture Series: Film and Television Production as Regenerative Strategy in Places Left Behind

Welcome to the University of Staffordshire's Creative Industries Lecture Series!

Join us at 3pm on March 5th in G027 Cadman Building / Cadman Yard for the first in what promises to be an exciting and dynamic series of lectures that celebrate creativity and innovation in its various forms. Britain's creative industries are world leading and they are the engine of our economic growth. In stark financial terms, in 2021 they generated £108bn in economic value and employed 2.3 million people. They are valuable and vital, but the importance of the creative industries goes well beyond the economy. Art, design, and entertainment enrich our lives and contribute to cultural identity and societal well-being. The works that these industries produce are the lens through which we understand the world.

This series of lectures will feature emerging and established speakers sharing their insights and experiences of the creative industries and, whether you're a student, professional, or simply ‘creative industries curious’, the series is perfect for anyone looking to be inspired and to learn something new.

Levelling Up the Screen Industries: Film and Television Production as Regenerative Strategy in Places Left Behind - Dr Mark McKenna

There is a significant body of work that considers the role of the regions and regionality in the British film and television industry, seen most visibly in Lez Cooke's A Sense of Place: Regional British Television Drama, 1956-82 (2012). The recent devolution of Channel 4, and then the BBC, combined with the investment and growth of areas like MediaCityUK in Salford, Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham, and The Depot in Liverpool, has rekindled interest in the role of the regions in the future of Britain’s screen economy. However, aside from a few notable exceptions, this work has consistently foregrounded the contribution of larger metropolitan areas, leaving the contribution of smaller city regions underexplored. Without the critical mass and infrastructure of larger city regions, smaller economic areas face a significant disadvantage in fulfilling their potential as locations for the production of film and television content, but that does not mean that attempts are not being made to capitalise on the economic and cultural benefits that a thriving film industry could bring.

Taking three regions not typically represented in any discussion of a national film industry, this paper seeks to explore what opportunities exist for places characterised as ‘left behind’ - areas blighted by what David Etherington, Martin Jones, and Luke Telford termed a ‘structural cocktail of disadvantage including low paid jobs, welfare erosion, indebtedness, destitution, and food insecurity’ (2022). Taking Sunderland, Stoke-on-Trent and Southampton as its focus, this paper will offer a snapshot of the different strategies that are being employed in three different regions and will consider their effectiveness against the backdrop of national initiatives like the previous government’s failed Levelling Up agenda.