Businesses will be able to apply to either the Music Fund for grants or loans or the Film and TV Development Fund will provide investments of up to £25,000 per project. Tony McDonough reports

Two funds totalling £400,000 are being made available to Liverpool city region’s struggling music, film and TV industries during the coronavirus crisis.

As part of of a wider package of support that will be announced this week, the funds have been created by Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram to provide urgent support for creative businesses, many of whom do not qualify for the core Government funding currently available.

The Music Fund will provide up to £10,000 of grant or loan funding to support micro-businesses and SMEs in the sector through this period and help futureproof them for the longer-term. The Film and TV Development Fund will provide investments of up to £25,000 per project to support the development of ambitious and distinctive content across all feature film and TV genres, and for all platforms. 

This is the first part of a number of targeted initiatives to directly support the survival of SMEs, creative and tech firms and help them access central government funds that will be announced by the Metro Mayor this week.

Mr Rotheram said: “It is absolutely vital that we do everything we can to protect and preserve our Music, Film and TV industries. They are at the beating heart of our city region’s very identity and are responsible for 5,000 jobs, contributing £228m to our economy every year in normal times.

“We have not received extra money direct from Government to support them, but my team at the Combined Authority has worked incredibly hard with our partners to identify funds that were ear-marked for projects later in the year and brought them forward to make them available right now, when they are so urgently needed by the sector.

“Our aim is to support our businesses in this key sector to weather this storm, and to develop some of the brilliant ideas that we will need to shine a spotlight on the city region and get this vital sector back to full health, as we recover from the coronavirus crisis.”

Lynn Saunders, head of the Liverpool Film Office, which will oversee the Film and TV Development Fund alongside its existing Production Fund, added: “Film and TV projects delivered over £17m of investment into the Liverpool City Region last year.

“With filming now shut down across the UK, it’s vital that we provide targeted, fast-tracked development support to the producers, writers and other creative talent whose ideas and scripts will be the bedrock for the recovery of our regional production sector later in the year.”

Detailed guidance on how to apply for the funds will be published this week. For further information on the Music Fund click here and for further information on the Film and TV Fund click here.