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�鶹Լ�� Birmingham to expand

2016-05-12T07:00:31+00:00

Last Wednesday Birmingham hosted a premiere for �鶹Լ�� Two's worldwide hit drama series Peaky Blinders.

I was bursting with pride watching the hordes of fans lined the canal outside The Mailbox to catch a glimpse of the cast led by star Cillian Murphy and writer Steven Knight. For �鶹Լ�� Birmingham to host an event for a series that has touched the hearts of people in the Midlands really was very special. And we know that the people in our region watched the first episode last week in more numbers than anywhere else in the country. I doff my cap (minus the razors) to Peakys and its fans.

After such a special moment last week I wasn't sure how this week could compare but today we have announced a package of measures that will build on the Corporation’s existing £125m investment in Birmingham by making the city the dual base for �鶹Լ�� Three, with half of the team moving to be based in the city under the proposals. Another brilliant moment for the �鶹Լ�� in Birmingham.

The team responsible for producing and publishing �鶹Լ�� Three’s daily short-form content will move here and we'll be the home of a new youth team who are set to be the main suppliers of the news content for �鶹Լ�� Three’s Daily Drop.

Birmingham is the youngest and most diverse city in Europe with a thriving digital start up culture so these new teams are the perfect fit for us and by investing significant extra resource in the city in this way we can help to develop the growing digital economy here too. We know there is a large pool of young creative talent in the city who we want to work with and want to work with us and �鶹Լ�� Birmingham will now be at the heart of producing fresh talent and innovative digital content for young audiences.

The new teams will also form part of the hub for the development and commissioning of diverse talent and programmes as announced in the �鶹Լ��’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy last month. Exciting stuff.

And my team at the �鶹Լ�� Academy are launching a new scheme - the Birmingham Production Apprenticeship - for new off air talent from diverse backgrounds.

Over the last year we have established ourselves as the centre of excellence for recruitment, training and digital innovation for the �鶹Լ�� alongside the thriving production base with the drama village producing shows like Doctors and Father Brown and The Mailbox being home to The Archers, �鶹Լ�� Front, the Asian Network and local programming with Midlands Today and �鶹Լ�� WM. But, I have said since I started this job 16 months ago that we wanted to do more and, if I am honest, this is even better than I could have hoped for.

Birmingham is a great city with a huge amount of potential and with today's announcement we will be dedicating even more resources, producing even more content, and creating even more opportunities for the industry and our audiences in the region. I hope you will all doff your peak(y) caps to that.

Joe Godwin is Director �鶹Լ�� Birmingham.

Read the press release about the announcement on the �鶹Լ�� Media Centre website.

Peaky Blinders on the Red Carpet at �鶹Լ�� Birmingham

2016-05-05T14:31:13+00:00

Stars of hit �鶹Լ��2 Birmingham-based drama Peaky Blinders last night came home in spectacular style for the Season 3 red carpet premiere.

The event which took place at The Everyman Cinema at the Mailbox in Birmingham, included appearances by the main man Cillian Murphy (Tommy Shelby) and Packy Lee (Johnny Dogs) as well as the writer/creator – Birmingham born Steven Knight.

Scores of fans lined the Mailbox in 1920s attire and Peaky Blinders flat caps. Here are some pictures from the night:

Bringing the Blinders home: (L-R) Jordan Bolger, Packy Lee, Cillian Murphy, Steven Knight, Gait Jansen, Harry Kirton, Stephanie Hyram and Kate Phillips

What a turn out! Scores of Peaky Blinders fans made their way to Birmingham’s Mailbox for the big premiere.

Peaky actor Packy Lee can’t resist talking a few snaps of the crowds.

Tips from Thomas Shelby? Cillian Murphy looked to have taken a tip or two from his Peaky Blinder's alter-ego, as he turned up suited and booted to the show's series three premiere in Birmingham, on Wednesday.

He even stopped to pose for some snaps with fans.

Kate Phillips 'Linda Shelby'

Jordan Bolger, 'Isiah'

Harry Kirton, 'Finn Shelby' in Peaky Blinders

Local lad Jasper Carrott turned out in a suitably period look for the screening.

Birmingham City's Jonathan Spector

Birmingham City FC goalkeeper and the Director/CEO of the club. Adam Legzdins and Panos Pavlakis.

Birmingham City Manager, Gary Rowett

Our Friend in the Midlands: Joe Godwin

2016-04-19T14:09:57+00:00

As the quadri-centenary of Shakespeare’s death approaches, my thoughts turn to a less well-known Midlands anniversary. To work for the �鶹Լ�� was my midsummer night’s dream and, 30 years ago, I wrote to Kay Alexander atMidlands Today, asking for her advice about a career in television.

She kindly arranged for me to speak to someone in personnel and, eventually, I found myself working as a Regional Station Assistant – not in Birmingham, but in Southampton.

Born in Warwickshire and weaned on �鶹Լ�� Midlands, I never did work at Pebble Mill. I arrived in Birmingham to run the �鶹Լ�� Academy and �鶹Լ�� Birmingham too late – it had gone.

Pebble Mill at one with the earth. But its brutalist form casts a deep shadow over the Midlands media landscape.

In the 20th century, Birmingham wasn’t just any old �鶹Լ�� regional centre. In 1922, it was the first and, for decades, the most important. In 2004, the �鶹Լ�� moved to a new city-centre site in The Mailbox, which was modern, efficient and cheaper to run.

But in 2012, as part of a rationalisation of production bases, much of Birmingham’s factual TV and radio moved again, this time to Bristol. The Mailbox was suddenly half empty and not so efficient – something that Tony Hall encountered in his second week as Director-General and that he was determined to do something about.

The West Midlands is at an economic and cultural watershed: the Midlands Engine is revving up. HS2 will bring millions of people and billions of pounds straight into the heart of Birmingham. The likes of HSBC are relocating their UK headquarters to the city, and a new John Lewis bestrides the wonderfully rejuvenated New Street Station.

Confidence is high and the focus is increasingly on Birmingham’s own huge growth potential and second-city cultural status. We are looking less over our shoulders at our friends in the North and their Powerhouse.

And �鶹Լ�� Birmingham is in the throes of its own mini renaissance. The �鶹Լ�� Academy has joined Midlands Today, Radio WM, The Archers and �鶹Լ�� Front, Father Brown and Doctors, and the Asian Network in the city.

Not long ago, The Mailbox felt like the Media Marie Celeste – now it’s full again.

Birmingham’s next media chapter is going to be about digital; our Digital Innovation Unit is beavering away on stuff for �鶹Լ�� Three. A new team is leading the �鶹Լ��’s six-month online Bard-fest, Shakespeare Lives.

Co-curated by the �鶹Լ�� and the British Council, it will open the rich archives of Shakespeare to the whole world, as well as streaming performances and features for the anniversary celebrations.

And it’s not just us. New indies, such as Colette Foster’s Full Fat, are appearing, and Lenny Henry made the wonderful Danny and the Human Zoo here. He is now making the case for the West Midlands to be the place to make a real difference in terms of diversity in TV.

There’s a feeling here that Birmingham fell off the �鶹Լ��’s map of Britain. But now we’re rebuilding our presence, to become the �鶹Լ�� that this great city and region deserve.

I’m very proud to be the �鶹Լ��’s “Director of Better” for Birmingham. We’ve got the B-word back on everyone’s lips across the �鶹Լ��. It brought the �鶹Լ�� Music Awards to the city, with more to come in 2016.

Next, our aim is to produce more �鶹Լ�� TV and radio programmes here in the years ahead, and I’m quietly confident that this will happen.

Joe Godwin is Director of �鶹Լ�� Birmingham and Director of �鶹Լ�� Academy

This post originally appeared on the RTS Media website.

�鶹Լ�� Studios - thinking outside the box

2015-12-18T13:02:35+00:00

It's been a week full of good, old-fashioned heroism - when astronaut Tim Peake became the first Brit on the International Space Station, an event covered masterfully by our in-house �鶹Լ�� Science team. That countdown puts the �鶹Լ�� Studios launch in April into perspective, I suppose.

We’ve done lots of thinking about the future and what it might bring, but amidst all that production teams have found time to keep making gripping content - like Luther's return to �鶹Լ�� One just this week. It's been a year when some of the nation's favourites reinvented themselves to massive audiences - from EastEnders’ innovative live 30th anniversary episodes to the 13th series of Strictly –the final just round the corner -for my money one of the best series ever. And we produced some unforgettable live moments - and not just from space -like Steve Backshall losing his cool at the sight of a blue whale on Big Blue Live, the historic flypast for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and Adele's return to the stage for �鶹Լ��1's unforgettable special.

It’s that range that makes �鶹Լ�� Studios such a special thing – the ability to move effortlessly from hard-hitting to laugh-out-loud, from global fandoms to local stories, music to drama. In the end it’s a question of thinking outside the box too – and that’s what our new plans for �鶹Լ�� Studios should be all about as part of the �鶹Լ��'s commitment to the UK creative sector in Charter Renewal.

We all get trapped in boxes – they can hem us in and hamper our imagination, and we have to keep forcing ourselves out of them. The box could be a London-centric mindset – until you think about the incredible breadth of content being made by �鶹Լ�� teams across every part of the UK. It could be the linear broadcast box-in-the-corner-of-the-living-room – until you see the ground-breaking digital innovation bubbling up throughout our production teams. The box could even just be the office – and getting out and about, talking to the writers and producers, on set, in the mixing studios and make-up rooms, is always the best way to broaden our horizons.

With that mantra in mind, I went off for a day of exploration with my leadership team – destination: Birmingham. It's not always been the trendiest of television locations but these days there are signs of real creative revival.

Great things started at �鶹Լ�� Birmingham – Top Gear and The One Show for example – and big things are happening there now too. At the Drama Village we examined the marvellous Doctors, serving up a dose of daytime drama to the nation day in day out. It’s a real petri dish for talent too – working with over 800 actors a year and nurturing new writers – often from the Midlands – who go on to the likes of Land Girls and EastEnders. The global success of its stable-mate Father Brown, as well as newcomer The Coroner shows the appeal of the quintessentially British stories that �鶹Լ�� Studios does so well.

We also visited the �鶹Լ��’s Digital Guerrillas in their base in trendy Digbeth, and heard about their own mission to think beyond the confines of traditional TV – whether it’s the inventive #ramadaninaday that got young people talking on social media about what Ramadan means to them, or the exciting interactive project for one of the �鶹Լ��’s hottest upcoming dramas, Thirteen. Together with the Digital Storytelling Team in London, who are working on exciting new short form projects with �鶹Լ�� Three and VR work with Science we are starting to see a different way to make content and connect with the audience. You can see some more highlights from our digital year in the video below:

After hearing about the central role that Birmingham will play in the �鶹Լ��’s Shakespeare season in 2016, we had a bit of a cultural change of pace and finished the day at the huge �鶹Լ�� Music Awards at Birmingham’s NEC – screaming along with the teenage girls as One Direction took the stage in a massive production from �鶹Լ�� Entertainment and Events.

The story of �鶹Լ�� Studios in Birmingham is one of entrepreneurialism – teams finding ways to get things done against the odds and outside the traditional means - stuff we will need aplenty in the new world. It’s also part of the case for a uniquely distributed in-house production – one that doesn’t just make programmes all around the country but is truly woven into the fabric of British places and British life, reflecting all our stories to the nation and the world. But we can’t take this for granted – these local ties are often delicate, and without the regeneration that �鶹Լ�� Studios will bring, the whole enterprise could unravel.

�鶹Լ�� Studios is more than the sum of its parts, but every part is precious – and every part will be spreading a bit of festive joy across the UK this Christmas: Mrs Brown’s Boys from Glasgow, the Christmas Big Sing from Salford, Still Open All Hours from Doncaster and London, as well as Doctor Who and the epic War and Peace, from �鶹Լ�� Wales - the latter launching in the new year, a masterpiece in period drama.

Linear or digital, serious or light-hearted, local, regional, national or global – I hope there's no box big enough to contain the creative ambition for �鶹Լ�� Studios. And as we head towards our launch in 2016, that’s something to celebrate.

Peter Salmon is Director, �鶹Լ�� Studios.

Doing the 'Brummieoke' for the �鶹Լ�� Music Awards

2015-12-09T11:58:07+00:00

This external content is available at its source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQu949WqKuU

�鶹Լ�� Birmingham has given Brummies passing through the Grand Central shopping centre a chance to perform their own renditions of tracks from �鶹Լ�� Music Awards artists in a special karoake booth.

Over the past few days, shoppers have stepped into the booth and recorded their performance, tweeting them with the hashtag Brummieoke. There's still time to record your performance in the booth at �鶹Լ�� Birmingham public space in the Mailbox until late tomorrow afternoon.

We've edited together a selection of the contributions. You can find more on the Brummieoke YouTube channel. Keep an eye out for some of the renditions featuring in the �鶹Լ�� Music Awards on �鶹Լ�� One tomorrow night.

See the line-up for the �鶹Լ�� Music Awards
�鶹Լ�� Music Awards are live on �鶹Լ�� One and �鶹Լ�� Radio 2 from 8pm on Thursday 10 December

Birmingham’s got talent

2015-11-05T15:54:34+00:00

We are all about Birmingham at About the �鶹Լ�� towers this month: first it was announced that the city will be the home of the next �鶹Լ�� Music Awards, then Citizen Khan took over with the launch of the new �鶹Լ�� One series. And this week we visited The Mailbox, the �鶹Լ��’s Birmingham base, where �鶹Լ�� Director General, Tony Hall, cut the ribbon on the �鶹Լ��’s Blue Room there, a space that shows off all the content and innovations in technology available from the �鶹Լ��, as well as the latest trends – and what’s more it will be open to the public.

Ed Grundy (Barry Farrimond) and Roy Tucker (Ian Pepperell) from The Archers cut the ribbon to open �鶹Լ�� Birminham Blue Room to the public, overseen by DG Tony Hall

Tony also announced a partnership between �鶹Լ�� Birmingham and Birmingham Repertory Theatre (The REP) to find a local Birmingham Writer in Residence who will work for six months across three �鶹Լ�� dramas that are produced in Birmingham; Radio 4’s The Archers and �鶹Լ�� Front, and �鶹Լ�� One’s Doctors. The lucky writer will also be named as The REP’s Writer on Attachment.

The depletion of this display of special Blue Room launch cupcakes was nothing to do with us. Honest.

On a busy Birmingham trip, the DG also popped over to the �鶹Լ��'s new digital innovation unit The Digital Guerrillas, based in Fazeley, to launch a pilot scheme on �鶹Լ�� Taster to find the next generation of content creators.

Find out all the detail about these anouncements in the press release on the Media Centre

Citizen Khan takes over Birmingham

2015-10-28T11:03:22+00:00

Mr Khan (Adil Ray) was in Birmingham yesterday (Tuesday 27 October) for the launch of the new series of �鶹Լ�� One comedy Citizen Khan. We've picked out some favourites pictures from the event that document his shennanigans.

Mr Khan outside the Birmingham Mailbox, the �鶹Լ��'s home in Birmingham.

In the afternoon Mr Khan visited the recently refurbished Birmingham New Street Train Station and went behind the scenes in the control room.

While he was there, Mr Khan also helped out with one or two station announcements.

Members of the cast arrive at the red carpet episode screening.

Mr Khan met crowds who had gathered at the red carpet.

It might have been raining, but spirits weren't dampened for a variety of media interviews on the red carpet.

Members of the cast congregate on the red carpet for a photo op.

�鶹Լ�� Music Awards head to Birmingham

2015-10-22T09:00:59+00:00

Today �鶹Լ�� audiences across the country and here in the Midlands have heard the news that the �鶹Լ�� Music Awards are coming to the Genting Arena in Birmingham, this December.

From Black Sabbath to Duran Duran, The Streets, Jamelia and Laura Mvula, Birmingham has a rich and glorious musical history – including my personal favourite ELO.

Now One Direction and Wolverhampton star Liam Payne will be joining his band mates on stage back in the homeland as event headliners! As Director of �鶹Լ�� Birmingham – and a proud Midlander - I’m looking forward to welcoming Liam and the rest of 1D to the region.

This morning �鶹Լ�� WM 95.6’s Adrian Goldberg joined in the excitement getting some reaction from some Birmingham 1D super fans (from 1.40m in) and audiences will be able to share more of the buzz on tonight’s �鶹Լ�� Midlands Today live from Birmingham at 6:30pm.

The �鶹Լ�� has been part of Birmingham, and Birmingham part of the �鶹Լ��, since 1922. The first regional radio service was broadcast from here and the first ever �鶹Լ�� children’s programme was broadcast from Birmingham in 1922.

And we’ve been here ever since. But one of our challenges is the perception that our commitment and our activity has diminished, and the �鶹Լ�� doesn’t do much in Birmingham or play its part in the City.

We do loads in Birmingham and will continue to. This year the �鶹Լ�� in Birmingham became the �鶹Լ��’s new centre of excellence for skills, recruitment and talent development for the whole UK, with the �鶹Լ�� Academy and HR Division. We also have the Drama Village in SellyOak and the new Digital Innovation Unit based in Fazeley.

Some of the nation’s most-loved programmes are produced in Birmingham including Radio 4’s The Archers and �鶹Լ�� Front and �鶹Լ�� One’s Doctors and Father Brown. More than 130 hours of television drama are produced a year from here and the city is also home to English Regions HQ.

By the end of 2015/16 Midlands spend will be in excess of £125m with the all the changes being made in Birmingham. This is more than 50 per cent up on where we were a couple of years ago, and we’re bringing 300 new jobs to the city.

The Music Awards coming here marks the next big moment in �鶹Լ�� Birmingham’s modern history and this supports our evolving story.

�鶹Լ�� Music is the Corporation’s strongest commitment to music in 30 years - comprising an ambitious wave of new programmes, innovative partnerships and ground-breaking music initiatives. This is designed to strengthen the �鶹Լ��’s place as a world leader in music broadcasting and commissioning, and enhance the UK’s position as a global trailblazer in music creation and performance.

So I am thrilled the Awards are coming to my patch. And audiences in Midlands who agree can listen out on �鶹Լ�� WM 95.6 for more news about the Awards over the coming weeks, as well as a chance to win tickets.

We’ve worked hard with many of our partners in the city to bring the Music Awards to Birmingham and we’re looking forward celebrating a great year in music with audiences across the Midlands.

During the week preceding the Awards, the �鶹Լ�� Music team will be running outreach events across the city, encouraging and inspiring new or aspiring artists in conjunction with local partners and venues.

The events will focus on sharing expertise and advice about working in the music industry. During the day there will be a series of seminars and workshops looking at issues such as 'How To Make Money In The Music Industry', 'Women in Music' and 'The Art of Song Writing'. Each evening there will be a �鶹Լ�� Introducing Showcase featuring up and coming bands, acts and performers from across the city.

This will all add up to real buzz in the City and fulfil our public purposes to cater for the different regions and communities of the UK, as well as bringing those people together for shared experiences.

I'm confident the 93 year old story of the �鶹Լ�� in Birmingham will go from strength to strength.

Joe Godwin is Director of �鶹Լ�� Academy and �鶹Լ�� Birmingham.

Find out more about the �鶹Լ�� Music Awards on the �鶹Լ�� Music website,including information on how to book tickets.

Lenny Henry joins us for a special moment for Midlands drama

2015-08-23T13:16:53+00:00

Lenny Henry and Kascion Franklin at the Dudley preview of Danny and the Human Zoo (credit: Stonehouse Photographic/�鶹Լ��)

Thursday (20 August) was a special moment for television drama in the Midlands as we welcomed home Dudley’s most famous son, Lenny Henry. We rolled out the red carpet at Dudley’s Showcase Cinema for Lenny to share his brilliant new �鶹Լ�� Drama from Red Production Company for �鶹Լ�� One Danny and the Human Zoo. It was incredible to see so many local supporters turn out and all sit down together – family, friends, fans, cast, crew and press – for a special first look at the programme.

Lenny Henry with the Mayor and Mayoress of Dudley (credit: Stonehouse Photographic/�鶹Լ��)

As Director of �鶹Լ�� Birmingham, and a proud Midlander, I champion �鶹Լ�� programme-making outside London which reflects the people who live here. I couldn’t have anticipated a film to do this more perfectly than Danny and the Human Zoo does. Set in the Seventies it tells the story of a young black kid growing up in a Jamaican family in Dudley, who is hurled into the crazy world of showbusiness. Lenny’s script – a fictionalised account of his own youth - is directed by Destiny Ekaragh who is a wonderful talent full of energy, humour and passion. It's a beautiful script, which had our Dudley audience in raptures of laughter at times, and moved to tears at others. I’d like to say a special thank you to cast, crew, Nicola Shindler, and Caroline Hollick at Red Production Company and thanks to Juliet Charlesworth the producer and to Polly Hill from the �鶹Լ��.

The programme’s lead Danny Fearon is played by local lad Kascion Franklin from Wednesbury who told the audience of how ‘awesome’ it was to be part of such a great drama right on his doorstep. I am proud that Danny and the Human Zoo is such a strong example of the �鶹Լ�� showcasing the Midlands and local talent on network TV. As Lenny himself told the audience after the screening on Thursday night: “There are so many stories about the Midlands to tell. It’s not just mine - there are loads of talented people from the area who never get chance to express themselves creatively and I hope that this is the beginning of a relationship with �鶹Լ�� Birmingham.”

Drama, has always been an important part of the DNA of the �鶹Լ�� in the Midlands. Our drama village in Selly Oak produces over 130 hours for �鶹Լ�� One every year, including �鶹Լ�� One’s Doctors; Father Brown, starring Mark Williams – a hit all over the world; and our latest commission – The Coroner. It’s a gateway for our talent to hone their skills, craft and creativity and a superb Midlands success story. Needless to say Danny and the Human Zoo is a must-watch so don’t miss it when it goes out on �鶹Լ�� One on Bank Holiday Monday (31 August).

Joe Godwin is Director, �鶹Լ�� Academy and �鶹Լ�� Birmingham

Danny and the Human Zoo will be on �鶹Լ�� One on Monday 31 August from 9.00-10.30pm

Engaging younger voters

2015-05-13T11:52:01+00:00

The election is past - and with it the chance to vote for the MPs who will sit in the UK Parliament.

Voting is something I feel strongly about. As a woman and a Catholic - two groups that did not always have the vote in the UK - but also as a result of filming in South Africa following the first post-apartheid election. The image of a young black South African woman kissing her voting paper with sheer joy is one that I will never forget.

So I was particularly glad that �鶹Լ�� Outreach was able to work with programme departments in Bristol and Birmingham, exploring with groups of young people the issues that concern them in the context of the election.

For many of the young people we worked with, the 2015 general election would have been their first chance to exercise their right to vote - a right they did not necessarily value or see as important.

In Birmingham, �鶹Լ�� Outreach held an event aimed at first time voters. We wanted to find out which issues were important to them and explore how they might make their voices heard. It was a lively, interactive event with the theme: ‘If you want my vote…’

It was part of an initiative called #brumvotes, set up by the �鶹Լ�� to interest younger voters in the election and generate programme content that they’d enjoy, especially online. We worked with �鶹Լ�� WM and Midlands Today, too.

Crucially, this was a politician-free zone: we were looking at what really mattered to those participating, not at how their views aligned with specific political parties.

We started the evening by exploring lots of different ideas - at one point writing comments on a life-sized model of the No 10 Downing Street door - culminating in competitively pitching programme formats to a panel of experts which included local broadcast journalist Noel Phillips, presenter Nikki Tapper and spoken word artist Deci4Life.

Early on, a discussion revealed a wide range of concerns about different topics: education - ‘free wifi for all and free bus passes’, crime - ‘harsher sentences for rapists’, finance - ‘stop corporate tax dodging’, politicians - ‘a load of rich kids making decisions for poor people’.

But soon the discussion turned to how these concerns might make compelling programmes. For example, the comment, ‘I’d like to see some politicians do an all-nighter bar shift’ was worked up into a programme idea where politicians would actually spend a day or longer living the life of a young person, with all its challenges. ‘I’d definitely watch that’, was the comment.

An underlying message to the politicians was: ‘Talk to us in language we actually understand’. This wasn’t about vocabulary or comprehension - it was about finding the means to talk with young people in ways which relate to their experience.

In Weston-super-Mare we ran a project with Weston College, ‘Your Voice Counts’, encouraging young people to make a film about the pros and cons of voting. Their report and conclusions can be seen here. We also ran sessions with �鶹Լ�� local radio stations in Bristol, Gloucester and with Radio 4’s Any Questions.

As a public service broadcaster, we need to make sure we have programmes and online content which educate, entertain and inform our younger audiences. If we don’t, we’ll get left behind. It can be argued that the sections of the audience which are growing fastest - young people, black, asian and minority ethnic groups, as well as people who are less well off - are some of the people we could serve a lot better.

So we make an effort to attract young people to work with us - we value their ideas and creativity. There are a number of schemes designed to do this - from work experience through internships to apprenticeships at all levels.

And it’s beginning to work.

The Outreach team for the Birmingham event included Talisha Johnson, a broadcast assistant trainee, who joined the �鶹Լ�� as one of the Director General’s local radio apprentices.

Talisha worked with the team to put together the event, and recorded and edited a package for the Chatback programme on �鶹Լ�� WM. Jade Richards, who has just started work as a Radio 1 intern, and was recruited through the 1Xtra Live outreach event in Birmingham, also took part in the workshop, judging programme ideas as well as writing and performing a poem: ‘If you want my vote’ - you can see Jade performing an extract from her poem here.

Not all of the work we did with first time voters was with young people. At one of the Outreach sessions we did in Weston-super-Mare, one first time voter was aged 75. But that’s another story...

All of these activities meet a fundamental Outreach principle - that they should be mutually beneficial - to the participants and also to the �鶹Լ�� and its audiences - building skills and knowledge with the young people and gaining valuable audience insights for us.

At the end of the Birmingham day, local radio apprentice Talisha and I decided to do a ‘blog off’ - we’d both write a blog about our experience. This is mine. And you can read Talisha’s blog here - the first of many, I hope, from one of the �鶹Լ��’s up-and-coming journalists.

Diane Reid, Head of Outreach & Corporate Responsibility

�鶹Լ�� Birmingham: On track to become �鶹Լ��'s centre for skills and talent

2015-04-08T11:54:23+00:00

Published in Broadcast Magazine today, Joe Godwin writes about the �鶹Լ�� Academy's move to Birmingham and the continuing plan to add the �鶹Լ��'s centre for skills and talent to the already thriving Drama Village in the Midlands.

A story in Broadcast last week stated that �鶹Լ��’s plan to transform Birmingham into a creative talent hub has been “dealt a blow” as some colleagues are not able relocate.

As Mark Twain might have said, reports of the derailment of our plans are exaggerated. In fact - wrong! We’re on track to make �鶹Լ�� Birmingham the �鶹Լ��'s centre for skills and talent when The �鶹Լ�� Academy moves here later this year. The result of some staff deciding they’re not able to make the move will ultimately mean more employment opportunities for people in the region. And we will have people in post by the end of the year.

Having a presence in the Midlands is really important to the �鶹Լ��, so over the past year we’ve been implementing a series of initiatives which are all designed to reinvigorate our investment and activity in the area.

It’s by design that we’re moving HR specialist teams alongside the globally renowned �鶹Լ�� Academy as they will work in partnership in finding and nurturing future talent. This will bring real economic benefits to the city and the region to ensure �鶹Լ�� Birmingham becomes a strong, vibrant and sustainable base for the �鶹Լ��.

Moving these additional 200 roles to Birmingham is part of a wider strategy that now has over 50 per cent of the �鶹Լ�� located outside of London. This is bringing us closer to our audiences and is also positive for the City’s economy. Our efforts here will also help to deliver the £1.5 billion annual savings across the �鶹Լ�� by 2017, allowing us to put in more money in to the programmes audiences love.

Birmingham’s already the home to plenty of �鶹Լ�� productions; The Archers and �鶹Լ�� Front on R4, �鶹Լ�� Asian Network and specialist music programmes from �鶹Լ�� Radio 2 including The Organist Entertains and Listen to the Band. Our Drama Village in Selly Oak makes Father Brown which has just been broadcast on �鶹Լ�� One, Doctors which continues to delight audiences, as well as the third series of WPC 56, and our latest drama commission for �鶹Լ�� One, The Coroner. A total of 120 hours of TV drama is produced a year from �鶹Լ�� Birmingham.

I want to build on Birmingham’s reputation as a centre of excellence for broadcasting so I am already working with commissioners and controllers to celebrate our network TV and radio drama story more, which in turn can increase the opportunities for in house and indie commissions from Birmingham. We’re also planning to refocus the public space at our Mailbox HQ in the city centre, so that Licence Fee payers feel connected to the �鶹Լ��, and see just how much the �鶹Լ�� is doing in the Midlands. We’ve established our Digital Innovation Unit in Fazeley, which will play a significant part in innovation for, amongst others, �鶹Լ�� Three.

We’re committed to the Midlands and are building on the foundations we have here. We’ve made huge strides in the past year and we’re not going to stop. Our approach is one of building a solid base, generating activity, building confidence and inspiring self-sustaining growth from that.

Joe Godwin is Director, �鶹Լ�� Academy and �鶹Լ�� Birmingham.