British fashion designer Sir Paul Smith is to become the first patron of UK regional screen agency EM Media.

The globally renowned designer worked with EM Media when he produced limited edition t-shirts for Anton Corbijn’s Control, which was shot in Smith’s home-town of Nottingham, and funded by the agency.

An avid film fan, Smith said: “I was very flattered to be asked to be patron for EM Media. They are great at nurturing new talent, a lot of which comes from the East Midlands, which of course is especially close to my heart as I was born in Nottingham and still have my company headquarters there.”

The appointment follows EM Media’s announcement earlier this month that it has received an $829,696 (£500,000) boost from the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) to invest in film and media.

EM Media has invested in 27 feature films to date, including Shane Meadow’s This Is England and Xiolu Gao’s Locarno winner She, A Chinese.

Topics