Production awards were made to nine feature film projects in 2010/2011 including upcoming projects Deepcut to be produced by Revolution Films and Hole, the debut feature of Cardiff based director Ed Talfan.

The Film Agency for Wales has invested £2.6m in Welsh film talent over the last year, according to its annual report which was released today.

The investment was made during the period April 2010 to March 2011 and includes business support for independent production companies, and supporting Welsh intellectual property generators - writers, directors and producers.

Production awards of £1.3m were made across nine film projects including Welsh-born Krishnendu Majumdar’s Deepcut, an adaptation of Philip Ralph’s play to be produced by Revolution Films.

Welsh production company Garage Light Films also picked up funding for Cardiff based director Ed Talfan’s debut feature Hole, which tells the true story of a Welsh businessman kidnapped in Tbilisi.

Meanwhile Welsh-director Kieran Evans’ adaptation of Niall Griffiths’ Kelly + Victor is due to go into production imminently.

Completed projects to receive funding include Richard Ayoade’s Submarine, Marc Evans’ Hunky Dory and Resistance starring Michael Sheen and Andrea Riseborough which is being released in the UK later this month.

Additional awards were made to seven existing projects on the slate to help close the financing. A further 15 projects were supported with £102,380 worth of development funding.

Unlike other film bodies, the Film Agency for Wales invests in Welsh talent as opposed to projects which are shot in Wales.

The Agency ran a business strategy training programme for ten independent production companies led by Angus Finney and backed by Skillset and the Media Academy + programme, as well as awarding £133,000 across exhibition to support 3709 specialist film screenings. 

One of the big focuses of the year was education, with investment put into 11 film education projects. The Agency also secured commitment from the Welsh Government to enable the roll-out of FILMCLUB to schools across Wales in 2011 -12.

Peter Edwards chairman of the Film Agency for Wales said: “We’re committed to building infrastructure to support viable and sustainable Welsh film businesses, with distinctive talent at the heart of those companies generating engaging and internationally appealing intellectual property.  A natural corollary to that is promoting a vibrant and dynamic film culture and in so doing, to grow the market for independent specialist film and the awareness of Welsh films and talent within that.”

The Film Agency for Wales is funded by the Arts Council of Wales, the BFI and the Welsh Government, via Creative Business Wales, the latter of which was set up to support, encourage and increase the range and number of films being produced in Wales and to foster the abundance of creative talent in Wales.
 




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