Workerbee and Expectation back Welsh producers

Wales has been receiving a bit of attention recently, with the BBC airing six dramas shot in the nation this year - including current BBC1 series Steeltown Murders and Quay Street's upcmoning Men Up - and Channel 4 moving Whisper's production of the 2024 Paralympics to the nation.

Now comes news that indies Workerbee and Expectation are both taking steps to bolster the Welsh production sector.

Cardiff-based indie start-up Ty’R Ddraig has become the first recipient of funds from the £50m growth fund set up by Workerbee parent company Banijay UK to support out-of-London production.

Based in Wrexham and focused on popular factual, Ty’r Ddraig has been set up by Ben Smith, a former Workerbee head of development. Since 2020, he has worked for Zinc Media label Red Sauce since 2020, overseeing shows such as Channel 5’s high-volume Bargain Loving Brits and Channel 5’s upcoming Legends of Comedy with Lenny Henry.

He plans to work with the local production community and offer apprenticeships in production, audio and post.

Meanwhile, BBC Comedy has picked Expectation as its indie partner for a regional partnership scheme for the comedy sector, drawn up with Creative Wales.

The producer, which steered Welsh writer Kayleigh Llewellyn to a Bafta for her debut, Cardiff-shot, series, BBC3’s In My Skin [main picture], will work with Welsh indies and creatives to grow representation of the nation on both sides of the camera.

Last year, BBC Comedy partnered with North East Screen and Hat Trick on a similar project in the North East, which led to a partnership between the Derry Girls producer and Hartlepool’s Sea & Sky Pictures.