There is more to the region's film industry than Get Carter and Billy Elliott, according to Will Mapplebeck. Which of our region's industries turns over a massive £121m and employs roughly 1,700 people? Which sector can also boost tourism and promote a positive image of the North-East to billions of people around the world? And which industry can inspire, inform, thrill and educate audiences? The answer is the screen industries, a phrase covering everything from big screen movies to corporate video - taking in computer games and television on the way. These industries pack a mighty cultural punch, but their economic importance is starting to be recognised by the region's decision makers. Take a simple example - when companies come to the North-East to shoot big budget productions like Harry Potter or Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, they spend money on hotels, catering and locally-based technical and artistic talent. Northern Film & Media's locations department estimated the spending generated inward investment worth £4.15m, creating 22,252 days of work for local people during 2003. And there is increasing evidence that exposure on film produces a tourism spin-off. Alnwick Castle in Northumberland reported a 119pc rise in visitor numbers during 2002 after appearing in the first two Harry Potter movies. Tourism and direct inward investment are just two ways in which film makes commercial and cultural sense. Northern Film & Media (NFM), the region's screen agency, has launched an in-depth report into the screen industries - the first of its kind. Created to guide NFM's strategy to build the sector, Creating Success underlines the potential for growth. NFM, which started up two years ago, believes projects that boost the size of existing firms, or attract new ones to the region, could create thousands of jobs and add millions to the already growing annual turnover. NFM chief executive Tom Harvey says: "Northern Film & Media has spent nearly £3m on more than 550 projects. This really shows the high level of activity and demand in the North-East media sector. "In partnership with One NorthEast and the UK Film Council, we have only just begun to promote and build the skills, experience, opportunities, ideas and project quality of the people and companies in the region. "We will continue to encourage and support innovation, growth and creativity and will continue to play a key role in building and supporting the climate to encourage this." Running in tandem with the report is a targeted company development scheme designed to grow and build our existing media companies. The Creating Success scheme gives businesses the chance to work with specialist media consultants Pembridge. Companies like North Shields business 21st Century Media and Newcastle production house Dene Films are growing fast and attracting lucrative work from outside the region. 21st Century Media's Caspar Berry says: "I don't think there would be a 21st Century Media now if it wasn't for Northern Film & Media and the Creating Success programme." Ultimately, our screen industries will only grow if they produce high quality content - but the talent is definitely there. You probably saw, or have heard of, The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off - the moving Channel 4 documentary about Jonny Kennedy who suffered from the terrible skin disease Epidermolysis Bullosa. Shown earlier this year, it was watched by 4.75 million people and has been acclaimed as one of this year's small screen highlights. It also raised more than £350,000 for Debra, the charity seeking a cure for the disease. But the Boy Whose Skin Fell Off wouldn't have happened without Northern Film & Media. The agency made a small investment in the production - made by Gateshead film-maker Patrick Collerton - that paid for a demonstration film that impressed Channel 4 bosses into commissioning the project. Jonny Kennedy's story moved millions, but there are countless other stories out there worth telling. It is NFM's job to help get these stories on big and small screens around the world and in doing so make film an even bigger cultural and economic force * Will Mapplebeck is communications manager for Northern Film & Media. | 
