Network Analysis of Film and TV Production in North East England,

1971-2011Jon Swords

Northumbria University

Search for the new... search for success

“one of the besetting sins of creative industries policy-making is its obsession with the new, its insistence that everything is ‘changed utterly,’ and its seeming ignorance, of its own history”

(Knell, 2007)

Creative Industries in North East England

Much of the region’s creative industries are characterised as:

- operating self contained and regionally bounded working practices

- being isolated cognitively and physically from creative hubs - using passive or serendipitous engagement strategies to

engage non- locally - facing barriers to engage non-locally

(Swords and Wray, 2010)

“There is no industry anymore…if I don’t find a new project soon I’m moving to Glasgow.”

(Producer D)

What’s happened?Why did it happened?What are the consequences?

Productions made (at least in part) in NEProductions involving NE based production companies

0

1000

2000

3000

4000Screen minutes for film and TV productions made in/by North East

Film

TV

Feature filmsShort films

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Minu

tes

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500Originated in NE

Originated outside NE

Screen minutes by location of production company

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Min

ute

s

Impacts of DeclineRegional firms 3.5x more likley to film locally

“Very little creativity on set, mainly routines tasks and fetching and carrying. Intensive creative period is pre-production.”

(Producer H)

Moving beyond the regionBounded regional space of workers vs multi-scalar relational spaces of production networks

“...the key domains of finance, distribution and exhibition that exert a massive influence on the organizational structures and geography of the industry.”

(Coe and Johns, 2004: 188)

Skeletal Remains of Project Ecologies

“project ecologies denote relational space which affords the personal, organizational, and institutional resources for performing projects. This relational space encompasses social layers on multiple scales, from the micro-level of interpersonal networks to the meso-level of wider institutional settings.”

(Grabher and Ibert, 2010: 176)

Visualising Project EcologiesAlan Sharp

Alison Daglish

Angus Newton

Annie Penn

Annie Wotton

ashley wilkinson

Benjamin Greenacre

Bob Bridges

Bob Dial

Bob Dixon IV

catherine cookson

Chris Abrahams

Chris Allies

Christine Llewellyn Reeve

Cliff Burr

colin towns

Corrina Bonicelli

danny longhurst

David Medlycott

David Seaton

des whelan

don bell

FESTIVAL FILM & TELEVISION PRODUCTION

FESTIVAL FILMS

Gary Crumpton

Gavin Millar

gillian garner

Gillian Zali

Gordon Hann

Herby Newton

Jamie Mc Phee

Jane Lewis

Jenny Shircore

Jill Forbes

Jim Will

Jimmy Garrett

Jimmy Mc Gill

John Haynes

John Hooper

John Hughes

John Mason

Karen Mc Kinlay

Keith Richardson

Keith Spark

Liz Vincent Fernie

maria walker

Michael Mc Garrigle

nadia el-saffarnael abbas

Nic Grant

Paul Reynolds

Paul Sadourian

Paul Van Der Weele

Peter Joly

Ray Burridge

ray marshall

Ray Townsend

Richard King

Shuna Harwood

Steven Leadbitter

Susie Bruffin

Tim Putnam

Tony Abrahams

Tony Ginnelly

Tracey Malone

Tyne Tees Television

WORLD WIDE INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION

The Dwelling Place

A Dinner of Herbs

All data, 1971-2011

TV productions

Films

Key

Split between film and TV

1980s 1990s

2000s

TV productions

Films

Key

2000-05 2006-11

TV productions

Films

Key

Why is NE England interesting?

“Researchers have looked for creativity in fairly obvious places...have found it there; and have theorised about cities, creative industries and urban transformations as if their subsequent models or logic were universally relevant everywhere.”

(Gibson, 2010: 3)

Next Stepswhat happens when creative industries go into decline?will other sectors be impacted?does a different kind of creativity emerge?firms learn and adapt?do job search strategies change?where to workers go?if they leave, will the return in the future? in how people market themselves?do people disassociate themselves with the region?is there a link with decline in other sectors?