January 2026 Update

2026 is finally here – and Screen Staffordshire put its foot back to the floor from the get-go.

Fresh from taking a speaking slot and stand at Filming in England’s West Midlands: Industry Mixer in December (the screen agency’s highest-attended Industry Mixer to date), and our first stand at FOCUS, January has been our busiest month so far.

The Film Office received 67x enquiries in January, and hosted 12x production recces in that time too. Both of these figures are the highest we have seen in a single month since both Jonny started and the film office launched. Whilst we can’t say too much more, we are confident that the support offered via these methods will culminate in the county featuring on screens to large audiences in the future.

Many thanks, as always, to our wonderful Steering Committee – who convened to review Q3 at Keele University just last week. Led by our chair – the esteemed Producer, Deborah Aston – the committee fedback on our movements and direction throughout the end of 2025, with actions taken as to how we move forward for the benefit of the county. A huge shout out too for Screen Manchester, who joined us as a guest speaker to share their own story from inception to the many huge successes they continue to enjoy, and how they have done so.

The film office also took on its third Open Door placement in the last year. Open Door is a Staffordshire County Council programme offering unpaid, structured 12-week work placements (with possible extension) to help adults aged 18+ gain real work experience, updated skills and improved employability. It supports jobseekers from all backgrounds by providing mentoring, confidence-building and CV-ready experience across council departments and local organisations. As shown above, we really enjoyed being able to celebrate the Open Door programme recently in our very own County Buildings.

We also spoke at the Big Tourism Conference in January, at Uttoxeter Racecourse – hosted by the Stoke and Staffordshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership. The slot was a meaningful opportunity for Jonny to review his first 12x months; read more about our 2025 here.

Last, but by no means least – we were ecstatic to receive an invitation to the Staffordshire Film Collective Screening at the Etruria ODEON.

The Collective has some wonderful talent, including our very own SteerCo member Anderson West. We hugely recommend audiences clicking here to learn more about the Collective – their aims, work to date and those involved.

That’s it from us for now – roll on February!