Creative Wales’ film production fund to be delivered by Ffilm Cymru Wales

Ffilm Cymru Wales will administer the new fund of £1million a year for an initial two-year period, which will be integrated with their current delegated National Lottery funds from the Arts Council of Wales. Producers can now access up to £600,000 per project through a single application process, subject to an assessment of Welsh benefits, including Welsh talent, Welsh spend, training and strategic benefits.  

At least £12million will be generated for the Welsh economy across the initial two years of the arrangement between Creative Wales and Ffilm Cymru, providing a post-pandemic boost for Wales’ world-class community of creatives, cast, crew, services and facilities. Under Ffilm Cymru’s management, there will continue to be a focus on films featuring Wales born or based writers, directors and producers at their helm.  

Ffilm Cymru has been supporting emerging and established filmmakers from Wales for 16 years, producing over 80 live-action, animated and documentary feature films, including Lee Haven Jones’ Gwledd / The Feast, Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor, Sara Sugarman’s Save the Cinema, Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not a Witch, Ila Mehrotra’s forthcoming documentary Hijra and forthcoming feature animation Kensuke’s Kingdom.

This new partnership between Ffilm Cymru and Creative Wales builds on a foundation of creative and economic collaboration that has already seen the co-funding of homegrown storytelling such as Euros Lyn’s Dream Horse and Mad as Birds Films’ forthcoming drama The Almond and the Seahorse, which was written by Kaite O'Reilly and co-directed by Celyn Jones.

Through the fund, Ffilm Cymru and Creative Wales will continue to foster the nation’s talent pipeline, encouraging people of all backgrounds to develop their transferable skills into creative careers. Ffilm Cymru will require and support producers to take on trainees on all supported productions, with trainees coming from a blend of third-party training providers and Ffilm Cymru’s training programmes.  Inclusive opportunities across all levels, from new entrants and apprenticeships to continued professional development and filmmaker shadowing opportunities will be on offer. 

Dawn Bowden MS, Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, says: “Since its inception, Creative Wales has been reviewing its approach to improving and enhancing its support for TV and film production, with a new production funding offer for TV and games also now available. This new and improved investment package for film is next in a suite of improved investments for the sector.

“This new approach to film will boost film production in Wales, stimulating growth in the number and variety of productions made in Wales, whilst also maximising the economic impact on the local economy, improve employment opportunities, further support the development of a skilled workforce, and further demonstrate the excellence of Wales on screen through our world-class talent, crews, facilities and unique locations.

“This unique partnership between Creative Wales and Ffilm Cymru Wales, following on from the recent Memorandums of Understanding with the BBC and S4C, is a further example of how our partnership approach is driving growth and talent development in the creative industries in Wales.”

Pauline Burt, Chief Executive of Ffilm Cymru welcomed this latest development saying “Having long worked directly with Welsh independent filmmakers to help bring their feature film projects to fruition, we’re delighted to be collaborating with Creative Wales on our shared objectives. The production fund will continue to centre Welsh talent, whilst streamlining access to funding and tailoring the offer to producers’ and the wider sector’s needs.”

Catryn Ramasut, MD at ieie productions and Chair of Creative Wales Non-Executive Board, said: "Supporting and expanding the film industry and making the process more efficient and accessible is a priority for Creative Wales. Working with Ffilm Cymru Wales and their experienced and knowledgeable team is great news for filmmakers in Wales, and will help take Welsh cinema to the world."