FROM SHAKESPEARE TO SONIC warwick.ac.uk/creativecommunity CREATIVE INDUSTRIES OF COVENTRY AND WARWICKSHIRE INTRODUCTION 02 GEOGRAPHY 06 COMPUTER GAMES DEVELOPERS 08 CREATIVE AGENCIES 12 INDEPENDENTS AND ENTREPRENEURS 14 ARTISTS AND MAKERS 18 TV AND FILM 20 LITERATURE AND MUSIC 22 HUBS AND VENUES 24 EVENTS AND FESTIVALS 28 TRANSPORT INNOVATION 30 GLOBAL IMPACT 32 THE FUTURE 34 Left: Coventry is gearing up for its tenure as the UK’s City of Culture in 2021 / Above: CAB Studios signage at Longbarn Village, Alcester 01 Left: Kenilworth Castle / Right: Electric Wharf creative living and working spaces in Coventry AMONG THE CHOCOLATE BOX SCENES OF WARWICKSHIRE AND THE POST-INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPES OF COVENTRY, THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES AREN’T JUST THRIVING… THEY’VE BEEN BUILDING QUIETLY FOR DECADES. 02 03 For an area more famous for Creative businesses here are The University of Warwick Shakespeare and The Specials, booming. In fact, a recent statistic is well placed to tap into the it might come as a surprise that states ‘Coventry & Warwickshire have rich diversity of the local Coventry and Warwickshire produce seen the fastest productivity growth creative industry. creative work for some of the biggest since the 2009 recession (out of brands and franchises on the planet, anywhere in the country), growing at Strong links to local businesses and also gave the world Teletubbies, almost twice the national average.’ allow students to gain valuable insights in the form of visiting The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy Office of National Statistics 2018 and Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My GVA (Balanced) per job filled. professionals, work placements Donkey? and collaborative projects. Did you know: CREATIVE INDUSTRIES CONTRIBUTE £1.1 • Mickey Mouse computer games As a top-rated university, were made above a shoe shop BILLION IN GROSS VALUE ADDED (GVA) in Royal Leamington Spa? Warwick is proud of its role in creating IN COVENTRY AND WARWICKSHIRE AND • The dance studio of the ARE GROWING AROUND 6.5% ANNUALLY. choreographer behind the ambassadors, change- opening ceremony of the London makers, thinkers and doers 2012 Paralympic Games is here in Warwickshire? tailored to the needs of • THREE Warwickshire computer creative companies – games developers spoke on not only on its doorstep stage at Apple’s 2018 Developer Conference in San José? but the world over. 04 Left: COWork Arch Four co-working and collaborative creative space, Leamington Spa / Above: The site of the new University Faculty of Arts 05 The region is one of contrasts. Together Coventry Coventry is a proud, working city built on innovation and industry, and Warwickshire NUNEATON while Warwickshire is perhaps form a unique, AN URBAN better known for its thatched DAIMLER cottages, two castles and the innovative, exciting POWERHOUSE NORTH CREATION CENTRE (IN DEVELOPMENT) birthplace of a certain playwright. WARWICKSHIRE part of the UK – an ideal ELECTRIC WHARF TO BIRMINGHAM CREATIVE BUSINESS COMMUNITY OUTLOOK And it’s here, on the nexus of AND THE WEST CANAL WAREHOUSE place to have a dynamic, MIDLANDS CREATIVE BUSINESS COMMUNITY these two environments, that the COVENTRY RUGBY UNIVERSITY HERBERT University of Warwick campus sits. creative career full of ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM FAB LAB MAKERSPACE global opportunities. FARGO VILLAGE FROM A To the north, the City marks the COVENTRY’S CREATIVE QUARTER beginning of the energetic urban COVENTRY sprawl west to Birmingham. CITY OF CULTURE 2021 RURAL To the south, the chic county UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK CAMPUS towns nestle within picturesque WARWICK ARTS CENTRE rolling countryside. Left: High Street, Kenilworth / Below: Electric Wharf / SILICON SPA SETTING Arguably the best of both worlds. Right: Fargo Village, Coventry COMPUTER GAMES CLUSTER KENILWORTH LEAMINGTON SPA CREATIVE QUARTER PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT SOUTH WARWICK WARWICKSHIRE SOUTHAM ALCESTER STRATFORD- UPON-AVON 06 RSC THEATRES COMPTON VERNEY 07 ART GALLERY AND PARK 1 2 Coventry and Warwickshire’s most intriguing and tangible creative cluster is the proliferation MAJOR of computer games companies centred on the well-heeled Regency town of Leamington Spa. PLAYERS Back in 1982, gaming pioneers It’s a dynamic community with a mix Codemasters set up its base of of big names including Microsoft’s operations in nearby Southam Playground Games (Forza Horizon), before going on to dominate the SEGA HARDlight (Sonic Dash), 3 4 world of early games design and Ubisoft Leamington (Tom Clancy’s publishing in the UK. The Division) and Rebellion Warwick (Sniper Elite), along with smaller, up- Almost four decades later and that and-coming studios such as Pixel Toys single company has (re)spawned a (Warhammer 40,000 Freeblade) and large group of games development Exient (Angry Birds Go). studios considered to be one of the largest outside London. The cluster, known affectionately as ‘Silicon Spa’, now has over 2,500 employees across 83 studios 5 6 (representing over 15% of the UK’s total games developers). Left: The Parade, Leamington Spa / Right 1: The original Codemasters logo / 2: Vintage Dizzy games / 3: The BAFTA award-winning Forza Horizon 4 game by Playground Games / 4: The Backspace exhibition / 5: Angry Birds at Exient / 6: Andy Wafer, CEO of 08 Pixel Toys, on stage at Apple’s 2018 Developer Conference 09 1 2 Among this vibrant scene you can a source of civic pride that Mickey also find emerging technology leaders Mouse, Spongebob Squarepants, RiVR taking virtual reality in new and Sonic the Hedgehog and exciting directions, alongside Silicon Pac-Man have all continued their Spa’s founding fathers still leading digital adventures in the centre of the way in mobile technologies. Leamington Spa. So much so that the Meanwhile, just down the road, town celebrated local games makers Codemasters continues to build on its with the award-winning Backspace heritage of racing games. Boardrooms festival and now hosts an annual and receptions across the county are conference for the industry, 3 4 home to a fair few BAFTAs and it’s Interactive Futures. 7 SONIC DASH – MADE IN LEAMINGTON BY SEGA HARDLIGHT 5 6 – IS DOWNLOADED 150,000 TIMES A DAY. Left 1: Famous characters featured in the Backspace timeline / 2: VR training at Royal Leamington Spa College / 3: Leamington Spa-cade cabinet / 4: Codemasters’ head office in Southam / 5: Epic Mickey 2 by Blitz Games / 6: Game designer Alex Darby / 7: Sonic the Hedgehog / 10 Right: Codemasters’ BAFTA for Race Driver: GRID 11 Coventry and Warwickshire are home to a high concentration of world-class creative digital, AGENTS OF branding, marketing, design and communications agencies – all serving some truly impressive CREATIVITY (and demanding) brands. For example, in Leamington town Channel 4, Studio Canal and centre alone, in an area of three Chelsea Football Club. square miles, creative work is produced for international brands Right across the region there’s such as Microsoft, Rolls-Royce, a staggering amount of creative Barclays, Audi and Disney along agencies of all different shapes with companies such as the BBC, and sizes, from Auburn to Zube. 12 Left and right: CAB Studios, Longbarn Village, Alcester 13 1 2 3 4 5 17 INDEPENDENTS AND ENTREPRENEURS 6 7 8 9 10 16 It’s not just traditional, established agencies that are making a difference. The area also attracts a wealth of creative entrepreneurs, freelancers and independent talent in step with the growing gig economy and the flexible services needed by business today. 11 12 13 14 15 18 1, 6, 7 + 14: CAB Studios / 2, 8 + 9: Vital Marketing / 10: Edge of the Web, Warwick / 3, 13 + 18 Craig Spivey Creative / 4: Althorpe Enterprise Hub / 5 + 11: Purple Monster / 12: Longbarn Village hotdesk / 15: Renegade Communication Agency / 14 16: COWork Arch Four / 17: Remote working at Temperance 15 A strong thread of contemporary digital communications runs through many local companies, although, by contrast, artisans such as Pinched Post are bringing the lost traditions of letterpress back to the high street. Away from both screens and print, there’s also a strong showing in the region’s product design disciplines with studios such as DCA, Small Fry and Design By Touch developing new innovations for the medical industries and children’s toys. 16 17 Left + above: Pinched Post graphic design studio and letterpress workshop, Leamington / Right: Design By Touch, Leamington 1 2 3 8 9 ARTS AND CRAFTSPEOPLE Artists, designers and makers can Silicon Spa veteran Jonny Ambrose, 4 5 be found throughout the region a co-founder of FreeStyleGames, has 10 11 working in every medium imaginable, swapped pixels for wood, metals, producing everything from homewares composites and carbon fibre to create to critically acclaimed artworks. sculptures inspired by his love of cars and interest in Leamington’s history Whether that’s jewellers, such as of making wartime camouflage. Warwick University Chemistry graduate Ruth Mary, who creates hand-stitched And the County even boasts lace jewellery cast in silver and gold, Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces Shed or designer makers like 2017 London of the Year runner-up – Oli Renison Design Award winner Kate Hollowood, of Black Tea One Sugar – a multi- whose contemporary lampshades disciplinary craftsman, furniture have been featured in Vogue and maker, carpenter and ‘builder of things’. House & Garden. 6 7 12 13 1 + 3: Jonny Ambrose and his Classic Lines sculpture / 2, 5 + 8: Kate Hollowood and her Matrix lighting range / 4 + 7: Builds by Black Tea One Sugar / 6 + 12: Ruth Mary Jewellery / 9: Leather sculpture by Mandy Havers / 10: Illustration by Christine Cuddihy / 18 11: Pop Bang Colour, who paints with toy cars / 13: Stained glass by Hazza Bee 19 THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT! Add in a number of smaller filmmakers as do Hollywood leading lights TV AND FILM such as Jam Sutton, Tasty Media and Clive Owen and Sophie Turner. Very much part of the Midlands Blackfire, plus a wealth of freelance Productions as varied as Doctor Who, regional block of TV and media broadcast professionals, and the local Upstairs Downstairs and The Italian companies, Stratford-upon-Avon is broadcast media sector is more than Job have all been shot on locations notably home to programme makers well represented.