GO WEST! 2 Bristol's Film and Television Industries

This report updates and substantially extends the 2017 report, Go West! Bristol's Film and Television Industries. It revises all the statistical information, including the number of companies. The report analyses the major changes that have occurred since 2017, notably Bristol being awarded a UNESCO City of Film status; the arrival of Channel 4, which located one of its two regional 'creative hubs' in Bristol ;and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the screen sector. There are revised profiles of BBC - placing the Natural History Unit in BBC Studios - and of Aardman Animations as the two principal 'anchor' firms. The report also contains numerous case studies of Bristol's independent companies, including several of the new ones that have emerged since 2017. There is a substantailly enlarged section on natural history filmmaking, examining Bristol's global role as the 'Green Hollywood'. The report argues that Bristol, in terms of company numbers and variety, is the second largest screen production cluster after London and that the screen sector plays a vital role in the city's economy and culture.