Wales has had one of the busiest periods of film and television activity ever in 2021, with over 24 productions shooting across the country between May to October – which means there will be many opportunities to see our beautiful country on screen in 2022
Over the Christmas period, Doctor Who fans will be treated to the first of three specials which will mark the last outing for Jodie Whitaker as the Doctor. Swansea’s own Russell T Davies will return as showrunner to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the series in 2023, with BBC Studios partnering Bad Wolf to produce. The third and final series of A Discovery of Witches will be available on Sky Max and NOW on January 7, produced by Bad Wolf and supported by the Welsh Government.
Wales has hosted major productions in recent months, including Havoc (Netflix) starring Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker, the third and final instalment of His Dark Materials for BBC One/HBO and a brand new Lucasfilm production – a reimagined TV series of the original movie classic Willow that will air on Disney+. All these productions – which were supported by Creative Wales – are expected to hit our screens in 2022.
Hand in hand with the major international productions, Creative Wales has also supported home-grown productions including the feature film The Almond and Seahorse (Mad as Birds) starring Rebel Wilson and six-part drama series The Light / Y Golau starring Joanna Scanlan, and Wales’ very own Alexandra Roach and Iwan Rheon, co-produced by Duchess Street Productions and Triongl in association with APC Studios.
Wales Screen (part of Creative Wales) has also assisted two new Channel 4 drama series expected to be broadcast later in 2022: The Birth Of Daniel F Harris (Clerkenwell Films) and The Undeclared War (Playground Entertainment) starring Mark Rylance and Simon Pegg, plus a new feature version of Lady Chatterley’s Lover which was partially filmed in North Wales.
Creative Wales also continues to support the thriving independent production sector in Wales who make innovative and popular factual content. Both Avanti Media’s The Perfect Pitch series for Channel 4 and Cwmni Da’s international co-production Rain Stories, set for release next year, both received support via Creative Wales funding.
This increase in production activity has seen an unprecedented demand for a skilled workforce. Creative Wales has been working with the sector to help address immediate skills shortages, ensuring our workforce have the right skills for the future to continue providing high quality crew for both home grown productions and those seeking to film here.
Creative Wales funding guarantees a commitment to providing trainee opportunities in the form of paid placements; and more than 120 trainees have benefitted from working on Creative Wales-supported productions in the past two years. These placements are monitored to help navigate future careers pathways for all trainees.
Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden said:
“Having such a productive year in the middle of a pandemic – when there was a huge demand for new content – has provided both challenges and opportunities. We look forward to seeing Wales showcased prominently on our screens next year in some major productions which will further enhance our reputation globally as being a first class destination for TV and film production, with the crew, skills, studio space and locations that can service all types of productions.”
