Date: Wed 28th January, 2009
Venue:
Fresh thinking, balanced by concern about changes imposed from London, emerged as they key themes of Insider’s first creative industry dinner, held at the Wales Millennium Centre on 28 January.
First up was Natasha Hale, the sector lead for creative industries in the Welsh Assembly Government, who talked frankly about the changes and challenges ahead.
She set the scene by pointing out that the industry is now part of the mainstream: “We are in one of the biggest sectors in the world, and Wales, its businesses, its infrastructure and its media have now woken up to this. We are no longer on the outside asking to come in. The industry is now accepted as it should be.”
Hale listed the Assembly’s industry initiatives, such as the Creative IP Fund and Wales Screen Commission, along with the Knowledge Bank for Business, property services, the Single Investment Fund and business support. And she acknowledged: “We do have some internal housekeeping we need to take care of – we need to join up more. We need to become flexible and fast-moving, and that is a challenge for any government.”
She said Ofcom’s recent review into public service broadcasting was a “market-led opportunity for Wales”, but added that it had to result in genuine choice: “Plurality is key, not only for news but for all content. Broadcasters have a responsibility to represent all the citizens of Wales adequately, whether that be network commissioning, or representation of Welsh life on television.”
That theme was taken up by John Geraint, creative director and founder of Green Bay Media. He said: “Public service broadcasting in Wales is broader than news and current affairs. We must maintain the plurality of programmes which serve the Welsh audience and reflect its concerns in a broader sense than simply the news agenda.”
Geraint, a former BBC Wales executive, added: “We must fight that battle and make them listen. If I hear one more time “they simply don’t get it”, well, it is about time that they did.”
And he suggested creative freedom may have moved too far down the broadcasters’ agenda. “We are there to serve the audience. Once the producer was king, but the pendulum has swung the other way now," he said. "As creative people, we need to feel that we have the scope and the freedom to express ourselves. Sometimes we need to be cut a bit of slack from government, from broadcasters and from regulators.”
Insider’s first creative industry dinner was sponsored by Igloo Regeneration, Creative Risk Solutions and Chubb Insurance.
Fresh thinking, balanced by concern about changes imposed from London, emerged as they key themes of Insider’s first creative industry dinner, held at the Wales Millennium Centre on 28 January.
