Sara Davies, North East entrepreneur and TV personality joined local dignitaries, the production team and crew to celebrate the launch of The Big Idea Works at a special screening last night at the Tyneside Cinema.
Filmed last year in Newcastle, the new 16 part series, fronted by the Dragon’s Den star was produced by Gateshead based Twenty Six 03 and supported by regional screen agency, North East Screen.
Sara spent six weeks filming in the region with experts and contributors from all over the country to complete 16, 30 minute episodes for the BBC.
Sara said; “I’m so thrilled we’re sharing this fascinating and heart-warming series with the world. The Big Idea Works shows you how connecting the right ideas with the right expertise can lead to something wonderful. That’s why today is also about sharing how rewarding it is to work with the brilliant Twenty Six 03 – a local production company – and local crew here in the North East.
There is huge value in nurturing and supporting all this incredible talent in the region. So I’m delighted that North East Screen and the BBC are providing opportunities like these, which I hope will help secure creative and production futures for the area.”
The development of the film and TV sector in the region is ramping up rapidly with the support from the regions combined authorities and the North East Production Fund. Projects such as this bring jobs for North East crew and facilities and show the impact that North East Screen’s wrap-around business support is having on content being created and made in the region.
Alison Gwynn, Chief Executive at North East Screen said;
“The North East has brilliant on-screen talent who audiences adore. It’s vital to us that our talent not only work on shows, but also lead them. Sara Davies is a fan-favourite with an abundance of passion not only for what she does and the people she works with, but for driving growth within the screen industry in the region.
As part of our commitment to develop and nurture relationships between outstanding North East talent and experienced production companies, we have welcomed the opportunity to provide film office, funding and business development support to Twenty Six 03. As an experienced relocated company now based in Gateshead, they were the perfect match for Sara.”
Twenty Six 03 relocated from Brighton, established themselves in the region and have been creating programmes in the North East for the past 5 years.
Duncan Gray, Executive Producer on the new series and MD of Twenty Six 03 said;
“We are thrilled North East Screen are putting on this event to showcase The Big Idea Works after helping us bring the idea to life with development and production funding. It shows just how supportive North East Screen is to Twenty Six 03 and other companies in the region.
We hope that The Big Idea Works returns in bigger volume for further series so that we can keep working with the incredible production team and provide new opportunities to all the incredible production talent here in the region.”
You can watch the 16 part series on BBC One from 3rd February at 2pm or watch all episodes on BBC iPlayer.