‘Ambitious young talent see Yorkshire as a land of opportunity’

“Ambitious young talent see Yorkshire as a land of opportunity”, according to Lucy Smith, development executive at Wise Owl Media.

Smith who works for the Leeds-based company was speaking as Channel 4 announced it had hit record levels of commissions and spend in the Nations and Regions.

She added that “out-of-London production is experiencing an extraordinary renaissance” noting that since Channel 4’s arrival in Leeds – a move designed to increase the diversity of its output in order to better reflect the voices and experiences of people from the nations and regions of the UK – “some of the UK’s most exciting creative minds who deserted for the Big Smoke are returning in droves”.

Channel 4 which has its Nations and Regions headquarters in the Majestic in Leeds city centre noted that 66 per cent of original programming commissioned for the main channel came from indies based outside of London, nearly double the quota the broadcaster had been set by Ofcom.

Channel 4’s chief content officer Ian Katz said: “These record figures show how Channel 4’s commitment to increasing spend in the Nations and Regions has helped break London’s longstanding dominance of the TV industry. Over the last two years we have built a formidable commissioning team in our new bases of Leeds, Glasgow and Bristol and their hard work, in collaboration with our brilliant indie partners, has ensured that the Channel’s output is now truly representative of the whole United Kingdom”

The company’s previous high for the percentage of commissioned content from the regions was 59 per cent in 2018.

Smith added: “Out-of-London indies are no longer content to deliver low-tariff regional programmes and are laser-focused on developing big budget international formats at scale. So if you’re considering a move north, be part of history and join us!”