Creative Industries Minister Praises Birmingham's Commitment To Film

Birmingham’s future as a leading location for international film festivals has gathered further support, at a FILM Birmingham forum attended by Shaun Woodward, the Minister for the Creative Industries and Tourism.
Speaking at an industry dinner hosted by the city’s new film office, FILM Birmingham, Woodward described the strength of Britain’s film industry as a source of pride and emphasised that creating the conditions for production, distribution and exhibition to thrive in an increasingly digitised environment will be the key to the future.
Woodward praised Birmingham City Council’s commitment to film, and announced a new online locations initiative from FILM Birmingham and Screen West Midlands (SWM). He said: “I would like to praise FILM Birmingham and Screen West Midlands’ city-region approach to the development and support of our film and television industry. Birmingham as the economic and cultural hub of the region is acting as a catalyst for growth through-out the West Midlands.”
The online locations library, to be launched over the summer, will provide local, national and international filmmakers with locations support and quick access to the city-region's backdrops. The service will also include a specialist locations managers' training scheme coordinated by SWM and film-friendly training by FILM Birmingham for local authorities within the region.
Suzie Ralph, Director, FILM Birmingham, said: “The launch of the online locations initiative shows our continued commitment to making Birmingham and the region film friendly. We are enjoying unprecedented growth in our film industry and this new web-based service is designed to attract continued interest from filmmakers across the globe.”
(CD)