West Midlands Growth Company
Digbeth
A fast-paced 90-second film for the West Midlands Growth Company tracing Digbeth’s transformation into one of the UK’s most exciting creative quarters.
The latest chapter in Digbeth’s story.
The Challenge
Working with the West Midlands Growth Company, we created a fast-paced 90-second film designed to showcase Digbeth’s transformation from Birmingham’s industrial heartland into one of the UK’s most exciting emerging creative quarters. Originally created for UKREiiF, the film needed to speak directly to investors, developers, content producers and organisations interested in creativity-led regeneration. The brief was not simply to show what was already in Digbeth, but to communicate the momentum behind the area, from established creative businesses to major new investment in film, television and media.
The Method
We built the film around an original poetic narrative that connected Digbeth’s past with its future. Lines moved from canals, factories, barges and Victorian railway arches to cameras, television studios and contemporary creative spaces, allowing us to tell a regeneration story without resorting to a conventional corporate voiceover. Visually, we combined archive material with newly filmed cinematic footage and drone photography. Familiar landmarks such as The Custard Factory, The Bond and the Tea Factory were shown alongside references to productions and organisations associated with Digbeth, including Peaky Blinders, MasterChef, the BBC and Digbeth Loc. Studios. The contrast between old and new became the visual language of the film: industrial architecture alongside production studios, canals alongside creative businesses, Victorian viaducts alongside the developing HS2 infrastructure. The finished piece presented regeneration not as the replacement of Digbeth’s history, but as the latest chapter in it.
What We Delivered
A fast-paced, 90-second film built around an original poetic narrative, created for UKREiiF. Used to raise awareness of Digbeth amongst investors, property developers and the creative industries, while communicating its potential as a centre for film, television and media production. Subsequently repurposed for social media and industry events, extending the value of the original production.
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