00:00The North East has a new creative space for filmmakers, digital artists and media makers.
00:06Runway Rooms has officially opened at ISS Airview in Newcastle, led by actor, producer and director
00:11Craig Conway, who's helping bring his experience and vision to the project. It's designed to go
00:16beyond a workspace, providing support from early development through production and helping creators
00:22take their work all the way to distribution. So the Runway Rooms is essentially a people-led
00:28micro-studio ecosystem to support filmmakers and independent creatives to be able to develop
00:38and produce their work and create content and assets for wider distribution in television,
00:44film or any other kind of media content. Well, the Talent Agency is going to kind of
00:49be based at the Runway Rooms also, so we're kind of going to be connected to the productions
00:55and just be a platform for all of local talent, national talent, international talent,
01:01to just get involved in everything local really.
01:05Runway Rooms aims to provide a full journey for creative projects from initial ideas to finished
01:10productions. The hub supports independent talent and companies through development, production,
01:15partnerships and access to finance and distribution. Organisers say the goal is to help creators retain
01:21intellectual property, build sustainable careers and strengthen the regional creative industry.
01:27An open day earlier this month marked the hub's official launch.
01:31All of the departments of production are going to be kind of here, so the actors are going to kind
01:36of,
01:36and the agency's going to have first hand of what's happening, what productions are happening,
01:41so it's just going to be bigger and better for the North East talent.
01:45Well, essentially we operate as a studio, so we bring projects in from development,
01:53we have the writers rooms, we have in-house producers, directors, we also have a team that
02:01gives a wraparound service when it comes to how to get that project to where it needs to be to
02:06get out
02:07into a market. So we work with international distributors, festival organisers, where we're offering
02:13that full service, and that also means accountancy, legal, because we're working with the SMA Centre of Excellence,
02:22we're also working with ISSA View. So, you know, being positioned where we are gives us also international links,
02:28and people from the business world working directly with creatives, and that's really important,
02:33because it doesn't necessarily happen that often. This is about real inclusion, bringing people together,
02:39communities together, and telling stories that are worthy of being seen internationally.
02:45Runway Rooms plans to continue developing programmes, partnerships, and initiatives aimed at supporting
02:50creative careers across the North East. Organisers say more activity and projects are expected in the
02:55months ahead, as the hub becomes fully established.
Comments