Digbeth's creative revival gathers pace

Local TV

A new film production hub in Digbeth aims to make Birmingham a global centre for film and TV. But as major investment floods in, questions remain about who benefits — and whether the area’s creative heart can survive its own success.

Transcript

00:01The mayor says Digbeth will rival Media City, but ambition only matters if it delivers.

00:06The next phase of regeneration centres on the Warwick Bar prospectus, setting out plans

00:11for at least 1,700 new homes and more than 100,000 square feet of creative work spice.

00:18It's a bid to blend large-scale investment with local character, turning old warehouses

00:22and canal-side plots into spices where creative industries can grow without losing their roots.

00:29One of the things that makes Digbeth particularly special is the really brilliant mix that it

00:36has between heritage buildings and cultural and creative organisations working alongside

00:42them.

00:43I think the combination of all of those things means that the opportunity in Digbeth is one

00:48to create a space that can be somewhere really compelling to live, work and play as well.

00:56At the heart of the announcement is Production Central WM, a new office linking filmmakers

01:01with the West Midlands locations, crews and suppliers.

01:04It's designed to make filming in the region simpler, faster and cheaper, while keeping

01:09more of the spend within the local economy.

01:12Officials say the goal is to cut red tape and help production companies of any size turn creative

01:17ideas into finished shoots right here in the region.

01:21The new regional film office will be a resource for all local creatives to be able to use as

01:26well.

01:27So, where we have producers who may be locally based looking for locations, it will be the

01:32place that they can go to to find out that information as well.

01:36Local people can access those.

01:38Some of those are opportunities for career changes, so that might be for electricians or carpenters

01:45or set painters and decorators that might be able to work in a new market by accessing film

01:51and TV.

01:52Or there may be boot camps for entry level.

01:55There's also training opportunities for mid-career level colleagues as well.

02:02But every boom carries a risk.

02:04Digbeth's reputation was built on independent creativity.

02:07Artists, musicians and filmmakers who made use of low-cost spice long before the big

02:12knives arrived.

02:13With major developers moving in, there's growing concern that rising rents could squeeze out

02:19the very people who shaped its identity.

02:21The challenge now is keeping that authenticity while building something much larger around it.

02:27The WMCA takes its role convening around this subject really seriously.

02:32And to that end, we are actively involved in a number of the kind of groups that exist to

02:38support the development of Digba.

02:40So we take a convening role.

02:42We take an advocacy role in there as well.

02:45And where we have levers to be able to make sure that that kind of development understands

02:52the place that it is looking to develop, we will use those levers where we can.

02:57We will use those levers to be able to make sure chickens are various or Finitions to 들어�agles in the

03:11areas of the world to get people, quite a number of the volunteers to get people out of this

03:18paragraph.

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