Making It Happen: Delivering the South-Central Screen Industries Strategy

The 2025 Screen Industries Cluster Meeting takes place at a pivotal moment — not only for the screen industries in South Central England, but for the region itself. As local government reorganisation and devolution proposals are finalised, this year’s meeting is uniquely timed to ensure that the screen industries are positioned at the heart of the region’s new economic development agenda.

With devolution set to bring structural reform and a new Mayoral Combined County Authority by 2026, now is the time to influence policy, shape investment priorities, and secure the place of the screen sector — including film, HETV, games, XR, and digital production — as a key driver of growth, innovation, and identity in the emerging South-Central region.

This fourth annual meeting builds on three years of strategy and visioning. With the Solent Film Office moving through procurement and a launch anticipated later this year, the focus now turns to implementation:

• How do we support and scale indigenous screen businesses?
• How do we build talent pipelines that meet current needs and anticipate future demands?
• And how can we ensure regional coordination and investment mechanisms support the screen sector in all its forms?

Confirmed speakers — including Kate Beal (Woodcut Media/PACT) — will bring insight from both policy and practice. This is a moment to deliver on our collective ambition and to ensure the screen industries have a voice in shaping the economic and cultural future of the devolved region.

Confirmed Speakers Include:

Kate Beal CEO, Woodcut Media / Representative, PACT

Kate is the founder and CEO of Woodcut Media, one of the UK’s most successful independent factual production companies. Based in the South of England, Woodcut specialises in returning factual series and premium true crime, producing for international platforms and broadcasters including Sky, Channel 4, and Discovery. Kate is also an active representative of PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television), advocating nationally for the health and growth of independent production. At the cluster meeting, Kate will speak as both a champion of indigenous screen business and as a representative of the wider independent production sector, exploring how regional support structures and policy interventions can better serve the industry.

Photo by Kelvin Han on Unsplash

Host or Publisher Creative Network South