Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser has visited Clwstwr to learn more about the screen and news sector innovation programme.
On 10 December 2021, Dame Ottoline met with representatives from the media sector at the BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House in Cardiff to hear about Clwstwr’s ground-breaking research and development (R&D) projects.
Clwstwr is part of the Creative Industries Clusters Programme, which is funded by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) on behalf of UKRI.
The session included a presentation from award-winning film producer and founder of Good Gate Media, John Giwa-Amu. He shared the R&D journey of their Clwstwr project – Real Time Render / Interactive Promo – which resulted in the interactive film Deathtrap Dungeon, based on the Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy gamebook.
Professor Justin Lewis, Director of Clwstwr and media.cymru, said: “It was great to meet Ottoline and give a real sense of our creative industry R&D programmes, Clwstwr and media.cymru.
“We introduced her to range of our industry partners, who were able tell stories of real innovation, conveying the significant impact UKRI-funded programmes have had on them and the creative sector here in South Wales.”
Dame Ottoline said: "I was fascinated to see first-hand the exciting work that Clwstwr and media.cymru are doing to accelerate creative sector growth by creating new companies, products and experiences.
“Supported by a range of UKRI investment that has also unlocked more funding from other sources, they are making the Cardiff area into a truly global hub for media innovation and production.
The collaboration between research, innovation and industry is not only benefitting the people who live here with jobs, opportunities and investment for their businesses, but also driving cutting-edge innovation that is good news for the whole UK economy.
Dame Ottoline also met with members of the media.cymru Consortium to hear about ambitions for the UKRI Strength in Places Fund programme to accelerate growth in the Cardiff Capital Region's media sector and received a tour of the new state-of-the-art BBC headquarters.
