While there were many reasons to oppose Brexit, some of the biggest fears were surrounding the entertainment industry. And the reason for this is manifold. From the lack of funding, issues with touring and access to European markets, there are many reasons why there’s been a drop in the Welsh entertainment sector.
EU funding disappears
The first, most impactful reasons for the Welsh entertainment industry being impacted is, of course, the funding from the EU. Once Brexit was finalised, huge amounts of funding coming from the EU just dried up. Historically, Wales has heavily relied on EU funding for cultural projects as well as the general creative industry. With the loss of EU funding after Brexit, a significant gap was created, which majorly impacted many productions and initiatives.
More bureaucracy
In addition to the lack of funding, Wales not being part of the EU caused additional problems. With Brexit, new paperwork was required for touring groups, there are travel restrictions in place, customs checks and more. As such, touring around Europe became far more expensive and complicated for Welsh performers. Of course, this was also the same in reverse, with many different performers from Europe finding it harder to travel in Wales and the UK as a whole. As such, revenue dropped from both sides causing more problems.
With the reduced access to the European Market, Brexit created more barriers for free movement and creative works. As such, it has greatly hindered the ability of Welsh artists to collaborate or perform with those in the EU. And, due to there being many ties to the EU in film and television co-productions, further disruptions and complications became apparent as well. It became far more complex to work and collaborate with European partners, with more obstacles in the way. All of this has also meant that business rates for film studios in Wales have increased. This means that costs across the board have risen putting financial strain on the industry as a whole. In turn, this means fewer productions being funded and reduced, reducing the overall creative output for the country.
It’s not all bad
However, since the initial issues served by Brexit, the Welsh film and entertainment industry has started to bounce back. Recently, there has been growth in the film and TV production sectors. Notable productions such as Sex Education and House of the Dragon were both filmed in Wales. More productions are being filmed in Wales as well, bringing much-needed economy back to the region. Impressively, more and more studios are heading to Wales to film with Netflix’s Welsh production generating more than £200 billion for the UK economy as a whole. The film in question, Havoc, stars Tom Hardy, was directed by Welshman Gareth Evans and is filmed entirely in Wales.
The Welsh Government also started the Creative Wales Initiative which is actively supporting the creative industry. It provides funding and support for all manner of projects, businesses and even the best online casinos to help these different sectors get off the ground. This further means that there is a focus on developing home-grown talent, and the domestic market rather than the previous heavy reliance on the European or International market. As such, this has helped to mitigate some of the potential harms caused by Brexit.
What this means is that Brexit has been somewhat of a mixed bag when it comes to impact. Yes, the impact was negative at the beginning, but the Welsh entertainment industry is bouncing back. The industry is being supported, mitigating some of the longer-term Brexit effects.
