Our MS, Paul Davis, kindly asked this question directed at the Economy Minister. Sadly, the reply does not answer the question at all, but simply slides around the issue. Here is the official record.
WRITTEN QUESTION
FOR ANSWER BY THE MINISTER FOR ECONOMY
ON 17 NOVEMBER 2021
Paul Davies (Preseli Pembrokeshire): What mechanisms and finance preferences has the Welsh Government utilised to encourage Welsh production companies to use Welsh facilities and talent for telling Welsh stories to a global audience? (WQ83849)
Dawn Bowden: The Welsh Government’s internal agency, Creative Wales, seeks to maximise the Welsh benefit of all film and TV productions it supports, whether that support is logistical or financial in nature. The Wales Screen team within Creative Wales assists productions by applying the knowledge, expertise, and tools (by managing and maintaining a database) to signpost production companies to utilise crew, and showcase locations across Wales in accordance to production requirements.
Any contract of funding by Creative Wales for a film or TV production contains clear agreed targets for Welsh spend, which the applicant must achieve and evidence before the award is issued. A clear definition of ‘Welsh spend’ or ‘Direct Welsh Expenditure’ is included in any agreement, ensuring that applicants make best efforts to contract the services of Wales based cast, crew and supply chain companies in order to satisfy our terms. Should applicants fail to meet targeted Welsh spend, Creative Wales reserves the right to reduce or fail to issue the award accordingly.
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Civil servants and Ministers become very astute at not answering questions -- or at least, answering the questions that they would like you to have asked......... I'm not very impressed. For years I have been trying to get a form of words into the Guidance Notes for grant aid and project loans for productions for film and high-end TV. But as I have often pointed out, nobody seems to be under much of an obligation to take genuine Welsh stories very seriously -- with the result that Wales is becoming known as a good place for the telling of other people's stories. His Dark Materials, DaVinci's Demons, Dr Who, Casualty, Merlin, and a host of other non-Welsh programmes have been made in Wales, but they are not OUR stories. Of course we do not want to stop those big series from being made in Welsh studios, using Welsh talent, but there is room for so much more -- including the telling of top quality indigenous stories.
Although broadcasting is not a devolved matter in Wales, so that Westminster pulls the purse strings, as far as I can see there is no reason whatsoever why Creative Wales and the Minister could not add a paragraph to the film / TV guidance notes which might shake out a host a great Welsh projects. Where there should be national pride and confidence, we simply see timidity.
These are the words I am suggesting:
"Creative Wales considers that certain projects, in terms of their content, provenance or benefit to the industry, represent clear priorities for its funding.
Strong preference will be given to submissions on behalf of projects which:
*are of Welsh initiation in a creative sense; that is, conceived, written, produced and/ or to be directed by Welsh talents
*entail new and emerging Welsh talent in key creative roles, i.e. director, writer, producer, composer, principal actor
*tell Welsh stories, drawing on and depicting Wales's culture, history, way of life, view of the world and of itself.”
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