What economic assessment has been carried out of the local and regional impact of the Dragon Studios located between Pencoed and Llanharan?
Since 2009, and during the period of the site being in administration, Welsh Government has worked to facilitate a regular flow of high end productions, to maximise impact of the site and its benefits to the local supply chain. During this period a number of productions have made use of the facilities.
All productions in receipt of Welsh Government financial support are required to commit a proportion of their expenditure to Welsh crew and supply chain companies. This figure differs across productions, proportionate to the scale of overall investment, and is a key element of our value for money assessments. This target is not defined at a local level, in order to avoid any potential adverse impact on productions, related to availability of expertise or supply in the immediate locality. Delivery of these targets are monitored during the lifetime of the production. To date, WG funded productions at Dragon Studios have reported a Welsh spend figure of over £35m, with this figure set to increase over time.
Assessing the true value of a production’s direct impact on a specific local area can be difficult due to the nature of productions. We work closely with funded productions to maximise local impacts. As a result of the current production at Dragon Studios, Brave New World, local crew and suppliers were employed on the series as a condition of their funding agreement. In addition, local accommodation suppliers benefitted from the production through the use of their premises for the length of the production.
Direct employment at the studios remains a matter for Dragon Studios and, as is standard within the production industry, employment directly related to individual productions are typically filled on the basis of freelance contracts.
Welsh Government continues to work to promote the site as a high end studio facility in order to maintain a strong pipeline of productions. The aim is to maximise the economic benefits to local and regional economies through increased levels of production spend in the supply chain.