upfront Feature
Valleywood: how Wales finally got its TV & film industry
Save for a few key services, virtually every industry ground to a halt when the COVID pandemic took hold in the UK. Film and TV were no different, and while not as vital as the NHS or supermarkets, the lack of fresh enter- tainment to keep us occupied as we sat indoors thumb-twiddling and using our beds as desks (hello chronic backache) proved how essential the cultural sector is in not necessarily prolong- ing our lives, but certainly enriching them. De- spite this, the industry in Wales has currently never been busier. How did this happen?
In 2021, short reprieves between lockdowns and the implementation of safe work practices allowed film and television productions to flicker to life again. In fact, in Wales, they did more than flicker, partly thanks to funding from Welsh Government agency Creative Wales, established in 2020.
“The Wales screen industry was in a very strong position before the start of the pandemic,” Deputy Director of Creative Wales, Gerwyn Evans said. “It bounced back very quickly, with War Of The Worlds being one of the first big productions back filming in the UK under the new COVID protocols. The summer of 2021 was extremely busy, with 24 productions underway at one time. This growth and the positivity around the sector in Wales has continued in 2022, with a renewed focus on supporting the skills requirements and attracting new talent into the sector from all backgrounds.”
While he’s not wrong about the pre-pandemic era, it wasn’t easy for the domestic industry to get to this point. At the start of the millennium, everyone’s favourite cosy dino professor Sir Richard Attenborough, the-then chair of Dragon International Studios, proudly
“Growth and the positivity around the sector in Wales has continued in 2022.”
unveiled plans to transform 350-acres of land in Bridgend into a film studio and, later on, a film academy and theme park to ease unemployment. However, a £1 billion price tag, political jitters over its viability, and the improbable discovery of a protected rodent species living there meant ‘Valleywood’ lay stagnant until 2007.
The mid-00s were a landmark moment for building the Welsh film industry, thanks to Jane Trantor, Julie Gardner and Russell T. Davies’ decision to bring the Doctor Who revival to the new Roath Lock Studios. Spinoff series Torchwood, as well as Sherlock, Merlin and relocating Casualty there from Bristol earned Cardiff a new reputation as a media hub, leading to the founding of Bad Wolf – named after a Whovian storyline – in 2015. Pinewood and American productions soon followed; by 2018, Dragon Studios was greatly expanded and by 2021, Wales came third behind Manchester and London as the UK’s most popular film base. Bad Wolf, meanwhile, has partnered with Sony Pictures Television.
Thanks to this growth spurt, you’re more than likely to recognise the backdrops of many major releases this year, including Disney+’s Willow (Dragon Studios) and Netflix’s Havoc, starring Tom Hardy, shot in Cardiff and directed by Welshman Gareth Edwards, as well as brand-new BBC drama Wolf.
The latter is one of the latest to utilise a healthy number of trainees – 14, to be exact – thanks to apprenticeship and Screen Skills Trainee Finder schemes. This month, Ffilm Cymru Wales’ Foot In The Door programme will place another batch on a Netflix production in Newport for a four-week work experience.
“Having such a productive year in the middle of a pandemic – when there was a huge demand for new content – has provided both challenges and opportunities,” Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden said while visiting the set of Wolf. Ironically, two decades on from the stop-and-start of Valleywood, demand is so high there’s a significant skills deficit. This is also the case throughout the UK. Screen Skills
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