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During the summer Seraphim Pictures celebrated some success with the distribution of our co-produced sci-fi feature Expiry doing well in North American territories. That film is currently under consideration for an SVOD release in the UK & Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in 2026. Expiry seems to be resonating with streaming audiences as our world uncannily aligns with writer-director Tom Gatley's dystopic vision of our future. 

In October the Company hosted a Big Brunch Fundraiser for Mind at Regus 1 Capital Quarter which featured a panel discussion on the topic of mental health in the workplace. The panel with Leo Anna Thomas, Iwan Williams and Prith Biant remains one of the stand-out highlights of the year. 

Looking past all the mince pies and ahead into 2026, Seraphim Pictures is set to reach the 20-year milestone in less than a month. 2025 has been the Company's best-ever year in terms of turnover, and next year promises to be even better. Things already seem brighter on the other side of the dark winter months! With one last location scouting trip to London left in the year, it's time to say goodbye to 2025!

At this time of year the Business Club at Spaces Covent Garden was very quiet in the afternoon, and became a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of checking out the different areas of London that feature in the screenplay for When Two Worlds Collide. 

The panel discussed attitudes to mental health in the workplace, how to recognise potential mental health issues, and practical tips we can all implement at work to look after our mental health and emotional wellbeing. Keep your eyes peeled for the online release of the panel recordings!

The afternoon provided valuable insights into Bad Wolf's 10-year journey producing content for the likes of the BBC, HBO, Sky and ITV, with plenty of interesting talk about the years to come. Panel talks varied from project development to legal affairs and career advice for industry entrants, and discussions about the future of production in Wales.

The new poster, which was designed in-house, features lead actors Richard Miltiadis and Sarah-Louise Tyler with the Cardiff city skyline, above images from a pivotal scene in the film's final act. You can read more about Expiry, its festival screenings, awards and distribution via this link. Keep your eyes peeled for further distribution news about Expiry as it continues to expand internationally!

This month Seraphim Pictures became an Associate Member of the Federation of Small Businesses. The FSB has been on the company radar since Company Director Daniel Lyddon spoke at an FSB Wales briefing in November 2024 (which you can read about here).

Following record turnover in Q1 & Q2 of Fiscal 2025-6, Seraphim Pictures is looking forward to a period of growth going into the next financial year, and so the support of organisations such as the FSB is very welcome at this time. The FSB is the UK's largest organisation for small businesses and the self-employed.

Benefits of FSB membership include legal and HR support, training opportunities, and healthcare and insurance options. UK business owners with fewer than 250 employees can find out more about membership here.

A number of people from the industry in Wales attended the networking reception, so it was great to connect and reconnect with peers and colleagues in the film industry. With plenty of events spaces for hosting cast and crew, the Tate Modern has more than just its views to offer a film production. Who knew that it has its own cinema screening room?

It was great to meet a lot of new faces, make new contacts, and network with existing contacts working in the screen industries in South Wales. There was much to be said about the current state of the jobs market for the UK screen industries, and the challenges facing freelancers trying to survive in the current gig economy. 

It's always encouraging to see provision being made for the Welsh language at these events - there were headsets on each seat which provided a live translation of Welsh into English when people were speaking. 

The end result of this, and other sessions, will be the publication of an actionable report on how to tackle modern slavery issues within the Creative Industries.  Grateful thanks are given to Cardiff Business School for the opportunity for Seraphim Pictures to contribute to the ongoing conversation!

The welcome provided by the team at Regus 1 Capital Quarter, and their ongoing admin and reception support, have helped to keep Seraphim Pictures firmly-rooted in the centre of Cardiff during months of film industry turbulence. As the company progresses with its feature film ambitions for 2025, Company Director Daniel Lyddon has committed Seraphim Pictures to a further two years at Capital Quarter in Cardiff.

December saw Seraphim Pictures renew its commitment to the UK Government's Disability Confident scheme for employers. The renewal reaffirms the Company's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. A plan is now in place to progress to the next level of the scheme, with the Company aiming to become a Disability Confident Employer by the end of December 2027.

Having attended a roundtable session earlier this year that contributed to the report, company director Daniel Lyddon was invited back to sit on a discussion panel deliver a presentation about Seraphim Pictures, its history to date, current operations and feature film projects in development. The event provided creatives with an opportunity to discuss and feed back on elements of the report.  The report itself can be read online or downloaded from the FSB website via this link.

June 17th saw Universal Studios visit the Welsh capital for "An Afternoon With NBCUniversal" hosted by Media Cymru at CultVR Lab, a world-class immersive virtual experience located on Cardiff's Penarth Road.

Reps from NBCUniversal presented examples of forthcoming film and television titles to showcase how the Studio makes use of immersive tech across its many divisions. The discussion ranged across topics such as the use of AI, sustainable production practices, and the utilisation of immersive experiences to further audience engagement with film releases. 

NBCUniversal coming to Cardiff to engage with the local companies is further evidence of Wales' growing popularity as a destination for film production.

Following attendance at the Media Cymru Ideas Lab Workshops in January, Company Director Daniel Lyddon was invited to participate in a series of interviews for Freelancer Focus Phase 1: Future Skills & Sustainability, a long-term qualitative study looking at the experiences of freelancers in the Wales screen sector.

The interviews provided the opportunity to discuss innovation and iterative thinking, invisible exports, moral and ethical implications of tech advancement, governmental definitions of innovation, and differentiating between assistive and generative AI, as well as considering sustainability from an economic standpoint in addition to environmental concerns.

On June 4th, Company Director Daniel Lyddon attended a roundtable session held by the Federation of Small Businesses Wales at Tramshed Tech in Cardiff. The Creative Economies Roundtable brought together companies from across the creative sector in Wales to discuss the challenges faced by small businesses, and the issues affecting the creative industries as a whole.

The event provided the opportunity to make new connections, to put faces to names, and to feed back on topics such as access to funding, business support, and the potential for other creative disciplines to be overshadowed by the screen industries in Wales when considering our creative economy.

Expiry is now free to watch (with ads) in the UK and abroad through www.fawesome.tv! 

Fawesome is a free streaming app available through Roku and Amazon Fire TV sets, Apple TV, LG and Samsung devices, as well as through the iOS Appstore, the Android Store and Microsoft Xfinity Store.

This is the first time that the film has been made available free to viewers in the UK, so we look forward to finding out how audiences respond to the film! For more information on Expiry, click this link.

On April 16th Company Director Daniel Lyddon attended the Collaborate and Create networking event held by Creative Wales at Canolfan S4C Yr Egin in Carmarthen, West Wales.

The event provided a platform for Creative Wales to showcase its recent work in the screen sector, as well as open up the conversation between creatives working in film, television and publishing to discuss ways in which the different disciplines can work together to grow and expand the creative sector in Wales as a whole.

As of March 1st, 2024, Seraphim Pictures has relocated to 1 Capital Quarter in Cardiff's Central Business District. This location will serve as the Company's head office, handling admin and business development, with productions filmed in hired studio space or on location. 

Capital Quarter is a 10-acre mixed use commercial development comprising office space, hotels, student housing, and retail premises. The Company's new neighbours include Banc - The Development Bank of Wales, Public Health Wales, and Audit Wales. 

Less than a 10-minute walk from Cardiff Central Railway Station and the City Centre, the location is ideal for meetings with creatives in the city! The new office address and contact details can be found on the contact page.

Company Director Daniel Lyddon spent a few days in London this February, with three networking sessions, and a mixer event held at 180 The Strand focusing on Sustainability in the Creative Industries. Following last year's sustainability training, and the launch of the Screen New Deal in Wales, it was good to see the ripples being made in sustainable production in the creative industries in Wales reaching out across the country.

The trip also afforded the chance to attend the SphereTrax Immersive Sound experience at Dolby Laboratories in Soho Square, to discover how the SphereTrax platform is using Assistive AI to help producers source music from composers. Listening to soundtrack options in Dolby Atmos from the centre of the sound bubble at the Dolby Screening room was an experience similar to first listening to surround sound back in the early 90's!

SphereTrax is certainly delivering a next-level service to both creatives and the companies working with them. You can sogn up to the SphereTrax platform and listen to sample music with this link.

January saw the launch of Media Cymru's Innovation Pipeline for 2024, beginning with Ideas Lab week held at PDR in Cardiff. The Pipeline is a combination of targeting funding round and training opportunities for both businesses and individuals working in creative media in Wales. 

Delivered in partnership with PDR and the Alacrity Foundation, the workshops were an inspiring introduction to innovation for creative businesses, encouraging creatives to use iterative thinking processes when developing ideas for new products and services to find solutions to issues that the media sector is currently facing.

Beyond this, the workshops were a great platform to test out ideas, experiment with different research methods, and gain valuable feedback from the 2024 cohort on the viability of everyone's ideas. The training was ideal for any media sector startup, so for those who missed out on this year's workshops, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on the Media Cymru website for the 2025 workshop dates when they are announced at the end of this year!

This year's BAFTA Albert Production Summit on Sustainability was held at Techniquest in Cardiff Bay. The day was both productive and inspiring, with a series of presentations outlining the efforts being made by the production industries in Wales to implement low carbon sustainable production techniques. The Summit coincided with the launch of the Screen New Deal Transformation Plan for Wales, which you can read about with this link.

It was great to see the film and broadcast industries coming together in South Wales to discuss the challenges we're facing and share ideas on how to change and develop the way that we work! Producers were given a lot of food for thought, as well as Locally-Sourced Sustainable Catering with a full Vegan Menu. 

This month, the Institute of Welsh Affairs hosted the Creative Crossroads Seminar at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, sponsored by Cymru Creadigol / Creative Wales. The day-long event was dedicated to discussing wellbeing and sustainability, and provided an opportunity to learn about the issues affecting the wider creative industries in Wales (not just the film industry) and learn from those pushing for change and already making a difference to working practices.

The event also gave freelancers and small businesses the chance to feed back to Wesh Government reps and creative industry organisations on the issues we're currently experiencing and how we might make improvements to the sector as a whole.

This month saw the Trade Unlocked conference at the NEC in Birmingham, a brand new national conference in the UK intending to bridge the gap between business and politics, creating a platform for businesses from all industry sectors to communicate with politicians and industry stakeholders.

Much was said about the way forward for International Trade and UK Politics, and how the country can possibly move on following next year's General Election, with plenty of opportunity for businesses to recommend the changes needed to boost trade and grow the economy.

Company Director Daniel Lyddon attended with the support of Trade Unlocked's SME Access Programme, which is worth checking out for future events. Although politicians from opposition parties were in attendance at the event, the absence of members of the UK Government who were invited to attend, was noted by many at the Conference.

The Screen New Deal Transformation Plan for Wales proposes a road map to transform the screen industries in Wales into a zero-carbon, zero-waste industry sector. Training was provided by BAFTA Albert this April at the new BBC Cymru Wales headquarters in the centre of Cardiff to inform industry stakeholders of the core recommendations that the Plan seeks to implement between now and 2030.

Attendees discussed the provision of clean energy to power sets and locations, options to reduce fuel emissions on film shoots, and the concept of the circular economy, reducing our waste and engaging with the local community so that unused creative materials are re-homed in schools, theatres, and local arts groups. The training was delivered by Tilly Ashton of Severn Screen with an encouraging approach to reaching our industry's net zero targets. 

It's important that rather than scaring businesses with statistics and seemingly unreachable goals, we discuss achievable methods going forward so that stakeholders can see the benefits of working to the Screen New Deal Transformation Plan - benefits that we will all eventually profit from. The training was relatable and understandable, rather than being overbearing, and it's easy to see a a way forward for the screen industries to adapt to the Plan.

This month the UK Trade North America Roadshow visited Tramshed Tech in Cardiff today. It was great catching up with fellow creatives and networking with delegates from UK Trade, the Welsh Government, the US State Department, Ellis Porter Immigration, and the Canadian Government.

It was good to learn about the political and economic relationships between the UK , USA & Canada and to be able to drop some knowledge bombs about the historical and cultural ties between our respective countries. The afternoon's sector-specific deep dive into Culture, Media & Sport opportunities for British companies looking to trade with America was inspiring, positive, motivating and productive

Huge thanks to Business News Wales for covering the Expiry distribution deal via the WaChing platform in South Africa. You can read their coverage over on the Business News Wales website with this link.

The press coverage keeps coming, as Business News Wales reports on Expiry's release on Prime Video Direct in the UK! The film is now available for purchase and rental via Prime Video Direct (in the USA and Canada it's also available as part of the Amazon Prime subscription).

Click here to read the article on the Business News Wales website.

Entertainment South Wales has also run the story of Expiry's release this month on Prime Video Direct in the UK. It's really encouraging to see the Welsh press supporting a home-grown indie movie!

Click here to read the coverage on Entertainment South Wales.

Nation Cymru is the second Welsh press outlet to cover the UK release of Expiry on Prime Video Direct! The film is starting to generate a good amount of coverage in South Wales, which should help with building the audience figures.

Click here to read the story on the Nation Cymru website.

The South Wales Argus is the first press outlet to run the story of Expiry's release on Prime Video Direct in the UK this month! Viewers in the UK can now rent or buy the film via the Amazon Prime app or website.

Click here to read more on the South Wales Argus website.

This month sees Seraphim Pictures sign up to the UK Government's Disability Confident scheme. The Company has now registered its commitment to inclusion and diversity in the workplace. Through its commitment to the Disability Confident scheme, Seraphim Pictures aims to increase understanding of disabilities, and challenge prevailing attitudes towards disability in the workplace.

After a busy few months following Expiry's festival circuit appearances and considering a number of distribution offers following the film's screening at last year's Boston Sci-Fest, Seraphim Pictures and TG Films are proud to announce the film's release in North America through Cinedigm. Following a limited theatrical release, Expiry will be made available for download in the USA & Canada as well as in US Caribbean territories! This is the first of hopefully many such deals for the film.

With lockdown restrictions lifted, filming on our short film The Last Christmas Tree was finally able to take place in Cefn Cribwr, Bridgend County in South Wales. The short film starring Craig Gallivan (Stella, Footballer's Wives) and Ellen Jane-Thomas (Expiry, Strange Tales) was shot on location all in one day, thanks to the hard work and commitment of the cast and crew working within Covid safety guidelines. The guidelines have made film production all the more challenging, but it's imperitive that we keep working, and that people stay safe in the workplace.

Look out for more news on The Last Christmas Tree as it goes into post-production next year!

Our sci-fi drama Expiry, which was co-produced with TG Films is screening this month as part of the Official Selection of the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival. Expiry tells the story of a married couple who wake one morning to discover they can no longer physically touch, after an oppressive ruling authority considers their relationship to have "expired".

The film is showing at the Somerville Theatre on David Square, on Tuesday February 11th at 19:15.