03 July 2015

• Exciting new direction for Wales’ national performing arts centre and the world’s only Welsh language television channel

• Announcement follows recent cross-party acknowledgement of the integral value of S4C in the preservation of Welsh culture

Wales Millennium Centre, Wales’ national centre for the performing arts, will work with Welsh language broadcaster S4C on a series of artistic collaborations it is announced today, Friday 3 July 2015.

This partnership will see the two organisations identify and create projects before jointly developing, delivering and promoting them. They will actively seek out new talent and dramatic content which is challenging, innovative and contemporary and which will enrich the experience they offer their respective audiences, including the Welsh language.

S4C is the only Welsh language television channel in the world, providing a wide range of informative and entertaining content on TV and digital platforms. S4C aims to bring exciting new, world-class arts content to the screen by working creatively with leading Welsh organisations: both to expand its cultural offering to viewers and offer value for money whilst, in return, supporting the wider creative industries across Wales.

The importance of S4C's role in promoting and preserving Welsh culture, as well as its contribution to the Welsh economy, has received cross-party acknowledgement at both Westminster and the Welsh Assembly in recent weeks, as the channel's long-term funding has been debated.

Wales Millennium Centre is the national centre for the performing arts in Wales. The Centre’s founding mission is to bring the best of the world to Wales and to showcase the best of Wales to the world. Producing original content as well as hosting international productions, the Centre aims to nurture creativity within Wales and extend horizons, especially for young people. It is also home to Wales’ leading arts organisations the Welsh National Opera, National Dance Company Wales and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

This strategic partnership is a major new creative direction for the Centre. Mathew Milsom, Managing Director at Wales Millennium Centre, who brokered the partnership, comments:

“Promoting and preserving Welsh culture and language is of great importance here at Wales Millennium centre, so it’s wonderful to be able to collaborate with S4C, an organisation which has made this its mission. Our ambition is to work together to produce some of the very best new work to come out of Wales, nurturing talent within Wales and elevating the experiences we already offer our respective audiences. We already have some unique projects in the pipeline for the next 5 years and I’m excited to see them come to fruition.”

S4C Chief Executive Ian Jones is also looking forward to developing the partnership:

“We're very proud of this new partnership with the Wales Millennium Centre and I look forward to seeing the relationship develop in coming months. In this partnership, S4C can gain from the Centre's expertise as producers and hosts of a wide variety of cultural events. In return, we will be able to offer our viewers access to world-class cultural performances and aim to draw in a new and wider audience to the Centre's activities.

“At S4C, we actively seek opportunities to work with establishments across Wales to discover new ways of creating content which allows both parties to get the very best out of a project, and I’m certain that this partnership will do just that.”

Details of the artistic collaborations within this partnership will be announced at a later date.

Ends