3. Will the Cabinet Secretary outline how the Welsh Government is ensuring that Wales is promoted in television and film productions? OAQ(5)0143(EI)

Yes. Our Wales Screen service provides a full crew and locations service and promotes Wales to the global production industry. This results in Welsh life, our locations, and talent being featured on screen in a number of productions each year.

Thank you for that answer. I am pleased that efforts such as the showreel have succeeded in increasing the numbers of companies and projects that do shoot in Wales in recent years, but, compared to other countries, we’re still falling behind. I’d like to ask you what efforts you are making to improve how external production companies and film projects promote the fact that they have filmed in Wales. Can you also outline how you are encouraging companies and projects benefitting from Welsh Government funding to set their films in Wales, rather than, as is too often the case, using Wales as a stand-in for somewhere else? I’ve had a concern from a constituent about trying to encourage a distinct cultural element to any grants that are given out by Welsh Government. Ffilm Cymru seem to be quite explicit on their website that they will be promoting Welsh cultural content in relation to the films, but with regard to tv and Welsh Government funding, people are not so sure as to how you would potentially promote people who are interested in telling a story about our history to the people of Wales if they don’t know that they can do so.

I’m going to apologise in advance for using an expletive in answering the Member’s question. We do, where possible, influence productions so that they are not just filmed in Wales but also set in Wales. An example is ‘The Bastard Executioner’, which producers originally intended to be set in England, but which, after discussions with Welsh Government, was set instead in Wales. I think it would be worth my while to write to Members detailing the criteria that must be met in attracting investment from Welsh Government, because it does include specific requirements.

For example, it requires one or more of the following: exposure of as broad a range of images of Wales as possible; the telling of indigenous stories simultaneously in English and Welsh, which has proven to be hugely successful in productions such as ‘Hinterland’; and the exposure of the image of Wales to a wide international audience. But I’ll write to Members with full details of the criteria.

I think it is impressive that the Welsh creative industries have grown at a pace faster than any other region in the UK outside of London. This shows that there is a huge appetite to film in Wales. But, it also demonstrates the quality, I think, of the crews that we now have in Wales, particularly along the M4 corridor, which is proving to be one of the most magnetic filming hubs anywhere in Europe at present.

Cabinet Secretary, may I congratulate you on your energetic and sterling efforts to ensure that Wales is promoted in television and film productions? I noted with interest the promotional showreel introduced by Hollywood A-lister Michael Sheen, which features clips from some of the latest major productions filmed in Wales and which does promote everything that the country has to offer as a filming location. Twenty-sixteen was a successful year for Wales Screen, which handled 386 production inquiries with more than £41 million spent in Wales by productions, supported by this Welsh Labour Government. Cabinet Secretary, what can the Welsh Government do to encourage further promotion of Wales and Welsh culture in television and film productions?

Can I thank the Member for her question and also for the very keen interest that she’s shown, since her election to this Chamber, in the creative industries? Every single production that’s funded by the Wales Screen fund is required to pass a culture test. It goes beyond the culture test criteria designed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, because it also has Welsh-specific criteria designed to promote Wales and Welsh talent. I think that’s adding to the value of the Wales offer to film and television producers around the globe. Wales Screen works very successfully to attract productions to film in Wales, showcasing our incredible landscapes, which incidentally are the No. 1 factor for tourists to come to Wales, and also our cityscapes, to international audiences.

The Member may be interested to know that Wales Screen officials also market what can be had and what can be achieved in Wales to an international audience through direct contact with producers in the United States and in other key areas of the world, such as Cannes. We also host inward visits from top industry executives to market the benefits of making television and film in Wales. We also, on a very relentless basis, as shown through the recent promotion of the showreel, raise awareness of Wales as a great place in which to film.