Creative Cities Convention is coming to Birmingham!

This is fantastic news for the region at a time when there is so much going on and so much to talk about.

The Creative Cities Convention is a place for gaining insights, sharing views and helping to shape the future of screen production and distribution outside London – and with Digbeth’s new Creative Content Hub, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Mercian Studios, and a wealth of tech and innovation projects all blossoming in the very heart of the UK – the timing couldn’t be better!

Ed Shedd, Create Central Chair, said “This is great news, with Birmingham holding the title of the city with the youngest population in Europe and the West Midlands as the most diverse region outside of London, we’re already home to the audiences of the future. Birmingham and the wider West Midlands creative content sector has really responded to the opportunities emerging from a rapidly changing media landscape - this is a great time to be showcasing our vision, our responsive approach and our talent for the Creative Cities Convention 2022 audience – and to be welcoming other screen sector people from right across the UK.”

Created to provide a meeting place for media people working outside the M25, the Creative Cities Convention became instantly popular when it launched in 2018 with joint funding from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and the producers’ trade body Pact.

Founding director Ruth Pitt says: “Despite the horrors of lockdown, the pandemic has been a catalyst for positive change for anyone making content outside London, not just because zooming cuts train journeys but because it also levels the playing field creatively and has accelerated the devolution of production outside London. But people desperately need to connect with one another in person now and it’s fantastic that the Creative Cities Convention can provide that face-to-face platform in Birmingham, where amazing screen industry development is happening. We’re grateful to Create Central, who are helping make this event happen.”

The conference team is already lining up some terrific high-level speakers and this year there will be plenty of opportunity to discuss the impact of digital acceleration, gaming, skills development and the support that’s available for people who want to build their businesses outside London.