What do a tender story about a gay couple’s journey to adoption, a zombie survival shooter game, and a swathe of breath-taking fire-breathing dragons have in common?
Wales’ incredible creative industry brought them all to life, and to our screens, in 2024.
Creative Wales is the Welsh Government’s agency for promoting and supporting the nation’s creative industries, from TV, film and animation to games, publishing and music. It also provides funding to bring unique production and training and up-skilling opportunities to Wales and Wales-based companies.
In the past six months alone, global TV, film and gaming audiences have had the chance to see many Welsh-related productions, including:
- World-renowned Game of Thrones prequel 'House of the Dragon', filmed on location across north Wales, with the area’s dramatic scenery standing-in for the mythical lands of Dragonstone and the Riverlands, amongst others.
- BBC’s 'Lost Boys and Fairies', a love-filled yet heartbreaking short series about a gay couple’s journey to adoption, filmed predominantly in the capital, and masterfully intertwined with the Welsh language.
- Children’s adventure animation feature 'Kensuke’s Kingdom', which hits cinemas this Friday, is a novel brought to life for the big screen, featuring the voices of Cillian Murphy and Sally Hawkins. Cardiff animators Bumpybox partnered on the film’s creation.
- Zombie shooter / horror video game 'Sker Ritual', with a strong Welsh backstory, it became one of the best-selling PC and console games in the world within the first week of being launched.
And it’s not just our screens which have been lit-up with Welsh-associated adventure. Creative Wales has also supported the creation of a digital map of Wales’ vast and ever-expanding music scene.
Available via the Live Music Research website, the map notes 496 businesses across the 22 local authorities of Wales, comprising of: 75 recording studios, 7 dedicated rehearsal studios and 414 music venues of various types.
For further information please select the following link: From Wales to the world, celebrating major creative success stories | GOV.WALES