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Sectors

Creative Industries

Newcastle is a hotbed of creative talent nurturing the next generation of musicians, artists, writers, film makers and games developers.

Newcastle has always been a strong independent centre for creative innovation and is seeing specific growth in key industries including TV & film, music development and creative writing.

Newcastle is a leading creative city and home to a vibrant ecosystem of recognised brands, independents and freelancers across a diverse range of disciplines.

One of the UK’s oldest libraries, the Lit and Phil, has been inspiring literary enthusiasts since 1793 and is now the largest independent library in the UK outside of London. Today, Newcastle is welcoming the next generation of creative writers and international publishers such as HarperCollins and Penguin Random House.

Newcastle also has a longstanding reputation for excellence in video games development owing to the presence of global studios such as Ubisoft, Sumo Digital and Creative Assembly.

North East England is also recognised as a High Potential Opportunity (HPO) for immersive technology, with digital production facility PROTO in Gateshead enabling local companies to push the boundaries of virtual and augmented reality.

Talent and skills are being propelled by three award-winning development agencies in North East Screen, New Writing North and Generator. Each of these organisations run a number of programmes to uncover the next generation of musicians, writers, producers and artists.

The recent regional investment in North East Screen, coupled with partnerships with BBC and Channel 4, has also brought renewed focus on our TV, film and screen sector with a raft of new commissions, inward investment and location filming.

Newcastle’s reputation as a creative hub was cemented when Creative Cities Convention was held in the city for the first time, bringing together the leading commissioners and production companies from across the industry.

Generator has secured investment from Universal to bring the EMI North record label to Newcastle.

BBC has committed to investing a minimum of £25m in commissioning spend and is developing its Tech Hub in Newcastle to build digital solutions for the iPlayer and BBC Sounds platforms.

North East England has been identified by Department for Business and Trade as a High Potential Opportunity for Immersive Technology.

A new 12,500 capacity arena and international conference centre is under construction on Gateshead Quayside to bring more major business and cultural events to Newcastle.

Sub Sectors

Take a look at the creative industries clusters driving growth in Newcastle.

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