Meet our new Staffordshire Film Office Manager
We’re delighted to introduce you to a new member of the We Are Staffordshire team, our new Film Office Manager, Jonny Shelton.
Jonny joins us to launch a new Staffordshire Film Office, to help raise our county’s profile on the national and international stage and play a part in our growing economy.
Tell us about yourself
I come into the role after working in Film and TV for six years, mostly for Creative England’s Filming in England Team where I worked really closely with We Are Staffordshire, Staffordshire County Council (and many other local authorities) and Location Managers. Most recently, I worked for The Production Guild of Great Britain.
I have found locations in the real world (the school for the Waterloo Road reboot; stables for The Crown) and outer space (quarries for Star Wars). I’ve scouted over 600 places, contributed to local and national legislation change, created opportunities for new crew to get their first credits in their careers – and, somehow, ended up in Sky Comedy ‘Brassic’ and Amazon’s Rom Com ‘How to Date Billy Walsh’ (in the latter as ‘Restaurant Goer #3’).
As with all of the other work undertaken by We Are Staffordshire to date, they have put their money where their mouth is with this project, for the good of the local populous and the county as a whole – which mirrors my own ambitions. I am motivated by a desire to serve the public, and I love storytelling. This role is the perfect combination of both of these elements; the work of a film office helps create worlds that members of the public can suspend their disbelief within – but there are so many more benefits the sector can bring to society, and I can’t wait to begin bringing these to life.
Staffordshire is uniquely positioned around ongoing developments in the sector too, which will further enable success, and I couldn’t be more pleased to be a part of it
What are the first things I’ll be looking to do?
Getting to know all of my new colleagues – in the County Council, and across each of the nine districts and boroughs within our borders!
And, starting the work to bring both the UK’s and the world’s biggest productions to Staffordshire, so we can show them how they can bring their scripts to life here.
Contact Jonny if you would like to know more about our new Film Office.