WALES

With 'Small country, epic locations' as one of its brands, Wales is pitched to producers as a relatively self-contained region with impressive rural and historical locations only a couple of hours from London.

It also has good facilities services, including post-production company Barcud Derwen, recognised by Televisual as the largest television facility outside London.

The big production this year was John Maybury's $17.4m (£8.5m) drama The Edge Of Love, starring Keira Knightley, which shot partly in Wales in the summer.

The film received a $1.4m (£700,000) equity investment from Wales Creative IP Fund - the $14m (£7m) production fund set up by the Welsh Assembly to attract media projects. It has so far invested more than $6m (£3m).

Another recipient was David Howard's Flick, starring Faye Dunaway.

Tasked with attracting film and television production to Wales, the Wales Screen Commission is part of Creative Business Wales, a development agency launched by the Welsh Assembly in 2004. A project executive from the commission says 2007 is proving busy, building on an 'outstanding 2006-07' that saw $67.5m (£33m) of business, up from $37m (£18.2m) the previous year.

Next spring will see the opening of the $675m (£330m) 12-stage Dragon International studios - dubbed 'Valleywood' - in Llanilid, south Wales. It will offer five stages, an outdoor street set and film production facilities.

Key agency: Wales Screen Commission

Contact: enquiry@walesscreencommission.co.uk, 0800 849 8848.