Creative Industries in Dundee
Dundee is an internationally renowned centre for game development. As a campus City, the educated population contributes to a strong knowledge economy, assisting creative arts and industries to thrive. A combination of this has led to Dundee being voted one of top 7 most intelligent communities by an independent think tank ICF.
Dundee within the UK benefits has the fewest barriers to entrepreneurship in the world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The fastest business set-up time in Europe (The World Bank). The UK is Europe’s most liberalised and dynamic telecoms market and has the most advanced infrastructure in Europe; with access to 60 million consumer within the UK and 500 million in Europe. Dundee has a advantageous status within the broadband economy by having the highest average broadband speeds in the UK (speedtest.net) and furthermore is currently having super fast (Fibrecity) broadband rolled out across the city by H20, complimenting the fibre optic speed provided by Virgin and BT currently.
There is a sector wide opportunity in Dundee, as creative industries are growing in diversity as fast as the innovation it spawns. Companies setting up in Dundee have easy access to tap into the city’s highly skilled workforce and readily accessible talent pool.
Digital Media
Dundee’s digital media success is built on entrepreneurial talent, strong financial and professional support and an early-adopter market hunger for novelty. Dundee pioneered education in video games, by creating the world’s first computer games degree course at the University of Abertay Dundee. According to PriceWaterhouseCooper the global media and entertainment industry was worth $1.7 trillion in 2007 and is forecast to grow at an average rate of 7% to 2012. Dave Jones formerly of Realtime Worlds and DMA Design is estimated to have generated $3.5 billion in worldwide sales in his career to date.
For further information please download the following document on Digital Media
Journalism & Publishing
Dundee has been home to newspaper and magazine powerhouse DC Thomson for over 100 years, publishers of famous iconic magazines The Beano and The Dandy. The group also includes Bright Solid the online services company and Friends Re-united the social online networking phenomenon. Specialist media like Clash magazine are also based within the City which has a proud heritage in producing world class journalists and publications.
Film and Television Production
The Moving Image sector goes beyond film and TV production to encompass pre- and post-production, special effects, animation, games, corporate and commercial production, interactive media and other production services that contribute to the finished product. Distribution, whether on the big, small or computer screen is a key element in the picture. It is estimated that the total annual spend in these sectors in Scotland is around £300 million, or around 5% of total spend in the UK. Over 30,000 people are employed in these sectors and with sales of Scottish content at over £1.5 billion per year, achieves around 10% of all UK sales.
Dundee, already known as a leading centre for games, is rapidly increasing its profile in the wider media production sector. It provides an urban hub for companies and crew throughout Fife and Tayside. The region accounts for 20% of people employed in the sector in Scotland. TayScreen, the screen office for Dundee City Council and the Councils of Angus, Fife and Perth & Kinross, promotes the region to the global media industry and works with around 100 projects a year.
Dundee is also playing a leading role in a new EU project for the development of the moving image sectors around the North Sea. Led by Dundee City Council, North Sea Screen Partners is a €6 million project with 12 partners in Denmark, England, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. The project takes in the flagship Visual Effects Research lab for high-end post-production and visual effects sited at the University of Dundee.
Independent Radio broadcasters in the city are Wave 102 and Radio Tay.
Marketing and PR
Dundee has traditionally been a communication hub for Scotland with Marketing and PR firms like Blue Square and Weber Shandwick have a base in the city. There are also a large number of smaller agencies and consultancies like Murry Chalmers p.r. specialising in different marketing communications activities. Scotland-wide, the sector is estimated to contribute more than £1 billion to the economy.
Architecture
Dundee is home to award winning architects Nicoll Russell and Aim. There are many world class projects designed within the city. Dundee’s School of Architecture offers planning and urban design courses, while a number of colleges across the city region offer related architectural technology qualifications, supporting this sectors skill base.