It was great to host talented young filmmakers from across Bristol in City Hall today.

They were entrants to the One City film competition, launched in 2017. This competition was borne out of our work with the city’s media and creative industry to attract Channel 4 to Bristol.

We always set out saying we would go for Channel 4, but that even if we didn’t get the Creative Hub, good things would still have come from the sector coming together in this way.

One of these things was how we created a space and platform for young filmmaking talent to showcase itself and get involved with telling the city’s story.

The finalists of the Our City competition are offered mentoring from leading Bristol film and TV production companies such as Aardman, Doghouse Productions, Drummer TV, Films @59 and Icon Films. The £1,000 prize was this year split between two winning entries: ‘BeBristol’ by Patch de Salis and ‘BRISTOL | Create Here’ by Michael Doran. These films will also be showcased at this Friday’s City Gathering.

This is all part of our commitment to identifying and working with the city to identify the opportunities for young, creative talent.

The creative sector is a huge part of Bristol’s economy and it has been fantastic to work with the sector over the past 18 months.  As Mike Norton said in his editorial for the Bristol Post following the announcement that Bristol has won a C4 Creative Hub, ‘this victory was but a small indication of what can be achieved when Bristol unites behind a project’.

Congratulations to the winners and all the finalists on their achievements. I hope this competition and expert mentoring acts as a catalyst for future creative careers.