The U.K. government is betting big on the screen industries in Tees Valley, a region on England’s northeast coast about 250 miles north of London. A major new Screen Industries Production Village is set to rise in the port town of Hartlepool, expanding Northern Studios, the only large-scale film and television studio facility in the North East of England.

The project is backed by £18.5 million ($23 million) from Hartlepool Borough Council and additional government funding through the Tees Valley Investment Zone, which was allocated £160 million ($200 million) to stimulate investment in creative, digital and technology industries. The Production Village is expected to create more than 130 jobs, offer flexible studio and workshop spaces, and add crucial pre- and post-production facilities to meet rising demand.

Opened in 2022, Northern Studios has already hosted a range of productions, from feature films to Sky true-crime documentaries and ITV dramas and comedies. Recent projects include BBC Comedy’s Smoggie Queens, ITV’s I Fought the Law and ITV’s Transaction. The facility has also served as a unit base for productions shooting on location in Hartlepool, a historic maritime town that has increasingly drawn filmmakers with its distinctive coastal architecture.

The expansion plan includes repurposing nine nearby buildings, improving road access, and developing flexible workspaces for independent productions. The site’s proximity to the Northern School of Art, which offers training and degree programs for creative industries, makes it well positioned to serve as both a production base and a talent pipeline for the region.

The initiative is part of a broader vision by the Hartlepool Development Corporation to create an integrated cultural and education hub linking the studios with the town’s marina and transport network. Local leaders say the goal is to ensure homegrown talent has pathways into the industry while also attracting larger domestic and international productions that might otherwise bypass the region for London, Manchester or overseas hubs.

For the North East — a region that has historically lacked major production infrastructure — the Production Village represents a significant bid to position Hartlepool and Tees Valley as a competitive destination in the global production economy.