Screen Yorkshire gets £7.5m boost

Screen Yorkshire has secured a further £7.5m ($12.3m) from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to invest in film, TV, games and digital production.

The finance boost will be matched by private sector investors on a project-by-project basis.

The backers of ’71, Death Comes to Pemberley and The Great Train Robbery will also look to increase the number of projects in which it invests more than £1m, something it has done once to date.

The agency, which secured the same amount from the ERDF in early 2012, is also in talks with a number of games and digital companies regarding investments.

Since the launch of its Yorkshire Content Fund nearly two years ago, Screen Yorkshire has invested in 18 projects, including TV productions Peaky Blinders, The Great Train Robbery, Death Comes to Pemberley, Jamaica Inn, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Hank Zipzer.

Film investments include ‘71, Catch Me Daddy, X Plus Y, Girls’ Night Out, Bill and Get Santa as well as new paranormal thriller Residue, a multi-platform production directed by Alex Garcia Lopez, currently underway in Leeds.

Screen Yorkshire was one of a number of agencies who chose not to fold into new regional body Creative England back in October 2011.

The move has seemingly paid off for the agency with Death Comes to Pemberley producer David Thompson going so far as to recently describe Yorkshire as “the Hollywood of England”.

Sally Joynson, chief executive of Screen Yorkshire, said: “This additional investment of £7.5 million, effectively doubling the capacity of the Yorkshire Content Fund, is a vote of confidence in Yorkshire, in Screen Yorkshire and the effectiveness of the Yorkshire Content Fund in putting Yorkshire at the heart of production across the UK screen industries.

“Over the past two years we have been able to work with established and emerging UK producers from across the UK as well as those based in Yorkshire to make 18 film and television productions in the region generating work and training opportunities as well as boosting spend within the local economy.

“By increasing the level we’re prepared to invest in key projects, we are also now aiming to work with bigger productions which can further grow and create opportunities for Yorkshire.”