RISINGSTARS

Jan 8 2008 by Sarah Judd, Evening Gazette

CREATIVE businesses in the Tees Valley are set to generate more than 9,000 jobs in the next five years as a glamorous new sector emerges.

Long before the movie makers beat a path to Redcar for the box office hit Atonement, the creative juices were flowing on Teesside. Worlds apart from the region’s traditional true grit industries, the tiny cluster of bright sparks working in new media, film, TV and the performing arts, was building up a sizeable reputation for some of the most innovative work in the visual arts. Now, they’re a beacon for regeneration, branded one of the most exciting sectors for development by the regional agency One NorthEast and prompting Teesside University to plug any potential brain drain by opening a new Institute of Digital Innovation.

SARAH JUDD discovers a Tees Valley teeming with talent on Pages 2 and 3.