The West of England has launched Greenlight West, a new £4.5 million production fund designed to increase the volume, range and scale of film and television projects made in the region. The initiative, announced by the West of England Mayor Helen Godwin at Bristol Old Vic, aims to strengthen the area's position as a UK production hub by attracting incoming productions while supporting locally based companies and the wider screen workforce.

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The fund is the first investment from the £25 million secured by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's Creative Places Growth Fund. The region is one of six across the UK to have unlocked funding through the government programme.

Greenlight West will provide grants ranging from £50,000 to £500,000, depending on the production route, to ambitious and commercially viable screen projects. Eligible applicants include incoming productions filming in the region, projects made or led by regionally based companies and productions undertaking significant post-production work locally.

Unlike many other regional incentives in the UK, the funding is non-recoupable. Applicants will need to demonstrate the meaningful impact their projects can bring to the region through local expenditure, employment, skills development and other economic benefits. Successful productions will also be required to engage with local skills and talent development initiatives.

According to the Mayoral Combined Authority, investments made through Greenlight West are forecast to generate £20.7 million in regional production expenditure and support more than 230 jobs. The fund is also intended to benefit freelancers, local suppliers and businesses across the screen production supply chain, while helping retain talent and post-production work that might otherwise move elsewhere.

“The West of England is already one of the most popular places in the UK to make TV and film,” said Godwin, highlighting the region's established strengths in drama, natural history, animation and factual production. She added that the new incentive aims to attract further investment, create jobs and skills opportunities for local people, and generate tourism benefits through screen exposure.

The launch has been welcomed by representatives of the region's production community. Philippa Lowthorpe, the three-time BAFTA-winning director whose credits include series The Crown, Three Girls and Prisoner 951, pointed to Bristol's talent base, locations, studio infrastructure and post-production facilities as key assets for drama production. She added that she hoped the fund would encourage more productions to base their shoots in the region.

Rachel Drummond-Hay, chair of the Royal Television Society West of England, said the initiative could help regional companies compete for larger projects while supporting talent retention and development. Bristol Screen Producers, meanwhile, welcomed the fund's recognition of indigenous production and post-production, underlining its potential to strengthen local businesses and retain skilled workers.

The West of England is the UK's third-largest screen production hub, with an estimated industry turnover of £325 million and around 3,000 full-time equivalent jobs, alongside thousands of freelance and contract roles. Its established strengths include natural history, animation, factual production, VFX and post-production, with major players such as BBC Studios' Natural History Unit and Aardman operating alongside a diverse independent production community.

The region also continues to attract incoming film and high-end television drama thanks to its proximity to London, local film offices and studio infrastructure, including Bristol's Bottle Yard Studios. Recent productions made, filmed or produced in the area include Bridgerton (Netflix), Rivals (Disney+), Agatha Christie's Seven Dials (Netflix), Wonka (Warner Bros), The Outlaws (BBC/Amazon) and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (BBC/Netflix).

Guidance and application details for Greenlight West are available on the fund's official website.