IP Content Fund

Big creative hits don't just emerge from nowhere. They need to be nurtured and supported, especially in their early-stage development.

We want to champion the region to set up a high-risk, high-reward investment fund designed specifically for the West Midlands' creative community. The idea is a Fund that would distribute small investments and grants enabling the most creative individuals, teams, and companies to develop IP in the region, allowing them to grow to become the next big global content or CreaTech innovation.

Create Central Board Member Jazz Gowans
“We are calling on regional leaders to work with industry to get this fund up and running as soon as possible – we know we are losing out to other regions who have this kind of incentive – so let’s get this done so we can really start to fly. ”
— Create Central Board Member Jazz Gowans
Police Officers from the TV show Fresh Cops

Fresh Cops by Full Fat TV

Why in the West Midlands?

  • Diversity – The West Midlands boasts a working-age talent pool of more than 1.8 million people from a vast array of backgrounds. Our region has a young, diverse population with a world of stories that need to be told.

  • Heritage - from Shakespeare and Tolkien to Forza Horizon and Peaky Blinders, the West Midlands has a record of creating incredible IP and delivering world-defining products.

Behind the scenes on Deep Fake Neighbour Wars by Tiger Aspect

What we’ve done so far

  • Innovate:Create - A Create Central project powered by Innovation Engin3 – created a series of competitions for SMEs in the West Midlands creative content sector working closely with the low-carbon sector. Big brands like National Express and Uber issued a series of challenges that offered specific opportunities for local companies to participate in a competitive process to win a mix of mentoring and grant support to develop an idea into an audience-facing project or R&D pilot.

  • BBC Three/BBC England partnership - The West Midlands Voices initiative, led by the BBC in partnership with Create Central, gave local indies the opportunity to submit documentary ideas that reflect the life experiences of 13–24-year-olds. The project resulted in two start-up companies - Common Story and Acclaimed Content - winning first-time commissions from BBC Three and Birmingham-based Full Fat TV securing a 4-part series.

Three priority actions

  1. Secure political and public sector support for a regional IP Content Fund.

  2. Identify partners to work with Create Central to establish the Fund.

  3. Secure investment for the Fund and work with partners to launch.

Find out about our other missions

  • Monetising Content

    Monetising Content

    Making it easier to sell creative content. READ MORE…

  • Future Media

    Future Media

    Making the West Midlands the future of content creation. READ MORE…

  • Games Sector

    Games Sector

    Finding new ways to support the West Midlands games sector. READ MORE…

  • Sustainability

    Sustainability

    Making the West Midlands the home of sustainable content creation. READ MORE…