The UK’s West Midlands has launched a new £6 million (approximately €7.166 million) Content Production Fund to attract film and television productions to the region and strengthen its screen sector. Announced by West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker on 8 October, the fund will be administered by Create Central and backed by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). It will support productions that can demonstrate strong public value and deliver significant economic, employment and sector development benefits for the region.

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The fund will offer awards ranging from £100,000 to £600,000 (€120,000 to €717,000) towards eligible production and post-production costs. Eligible content includes scripted and unscripted television, feature films, documentaries and animation. Applications will be welcomed from producers based in the West Midlands, as well as productions planning substantial production activity in the region. Funding may take the form of recoupable or non-recoupable grants, with the mechanism determined on a project-by-project basis. All awards will be subject to public value protection provisions.

Priority will be given to projects demonstrating significant expenditure in the West Midlands, creating employment and skills development opportunities for local people, using regional businesses and facilities, and contributing to the long-term growth and sustainability of the region’s screen sector.

The fund forms part of a wider £100 million (€120 million) investment package assembled by the WMCA and regional partners to create jobs, improve skills and expand studio infrastructure across the creative industries. The region’s creative sector is worth almost £4 billion (€4.78 billion) annually, encompassing around 13,700 businesses and supporting 38,000 jobs. The wider investment programme includes plans for the BBC to increase its production spending in the West Midlands to £40 million (€47.8 million) a year by the end of the current Royal Charter, as well as its planned relocation to a new headquarters at Birmingham’s Tea Factory in 2027. The region is also home to its first major studios at Digbeth Loc.

According to figures from Filming in England cited by the WMCA, film and television productions generated £15.5 million (€18.5 million) in expenditure in the West Midlands during the first quarter of 2026, accounting for almost 40% of the UK total during that period. Recent productions include the latest Peaky Blinders series (which was filmed in the region with support from Production Central WM), the relocation of Silent Witness and The Cadburys, a six-part drama about the Birmingham family whose story helped shape the city’s industrial identity. The latter, featuring local actors and crew, is scheduled to air on U and UDRAMA in 2027.

The new initiative will build on the work of Production Central WM, the region’s production services agency, and complement a third round of the IP Content Fund, run in partnership with Creative UK. The latter has supported the development of 25 television, film and digital projects over the past two years, including a reboot of children’s classic Bagpuss by Birmingham-based Threewise Entertainment and the BBC crime-drama The Hairdresser Mysteries, devised, written and filmed by local company Mill Bay Media.

Expressions of interest for the Content Production Fund are currently being accepted through Production Central WM. This initial stage requires high-level information about prospective productions, including their budgets, funding requirements, proposed schedules and anticipated regional activity. The full application process is expected to open in early 2027, when detailed eligibility requirements, assessment criteria and application guidance will be published.