“It is a great time to be British in the entertainment industry,” Variety’s publisher and co-president Dea Lawrence told an enthusiastic crowd in London Monday as she explained why the publication was bringing Power of Women, one of its tentpole franchises, to the U.K. capital.
Lawrence was in conversation with Katy Wickremesinghe, creator of content platform The Wick, at an event hosted by Culture3 in partnership with UK House, which was running as part of the packed schedule of SXSW London, whose second edition kicked off Monday.
Film and premium television production spend in Britain grew 22% to £6.8 billion ($9.12 billion) last year, according to the British Film Institute.
“It is a very pivotal moment where right now there’s a convergence between the creative, the technology and the storytelling, and Britain, with its fabulous talent, its production facilities and its IP, are able to be resonating culturally far above the size of the country,” Lawrence said. “And what’s happening right now is that London and the U.K. is the second largest entertainment hub in the world, which is why we’re here with Power of Women, and why we’re coming with many, many more events.”
Variety’s Power of Women London event takes place on Wednesday, in the presence of honorees Emilia Clarke, Emma Corrin, Cynthia Erivo, Hannah Waddingham and Suki Waterhouse.
