GUEST COLUMN:
Professor Sara Pepper OBE
Media Cymru
Earlier this month, Wales celebrated St David’s Day and with it the words associated with our patron saint: gwnewch y pethau bychain, do the little things. It is a simple idea, but one that has stayed with me throughout my work leading Media Cymru. It was particularly on my mind and in the words I shared as Welsh creative industries innovation lit up the screens at Outernet London during Wales Week London.
Seeing that moment unfold made me immensely proud, not only because of the two new pieces of Welsh immersive content that were premiered on the Outernet screens, but because it represented the culmination of years of collaboration, experimentation and belief in the extraordinary potential of Wales’ creative sector.
At its heart, Media Cymru is a collaboration. Many partners working together alongside hundreds of creative individuals and businesses. Each project funded. Each partnership formed. Each experiment supported. These may feel like small steps in isolation, but together they produce something much bigger.
There, in the heart of the UK capital, two studios from Wales stood on one of the most technologically advanced real time media stages in the world to show what support for Welsh creativity can do.
ATXR premiered Awen: Unbound, an immersive experience powered by Welsh environmental data and music generated by plants. The result was a living digital landscape where audiences became active participants in shaping the work around them.
CreuTech Ltd unveiled Artio, an interactive musical mythscape that reimagines Arthurian legend through an ecological and feminist lens. Using gesture recognition, music and generative visuals, audiences helped bring a living story to life in real time.
Watching those works fill the screens at Outernet was a powerful reminder of what happens when creative talent is given the space and support to experiment in research and development (R&D) to make something new. All of this being part of Wales Week London 2026 not only amplified our reach but also enabled us to strengthen relationships, increase connectivity and demonstrate the vibrancy and ambition of Wales’s creative industries to a broader international audience.
Media Cymru was established to create exactly those conditions. Backed by UK Research and Innovation through the Strength in Places Fund, we are working with partners across industry, academia and government to turn the Cardiff Capital Region into a global hub for media innovation focused on fair, green and global economic growth.
We have built an ecosystem where creative ideas develop into new products, new services and new opportunities for growth.
At our Outernet event, the Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens MP spoke about the economic momentum behind Wales’ creative industries noting that investment in creative R&D generates real returns, not just for the companies directly involved but across supply chains and communities.
For me, it reinforced why building the right infrastructure for collaboration between industry, academia and government matters so much. When creative partnerships work, they convert innovation into jobs, exports and long-term growth.
Immersive storytelling, real time media and interactive experiences are rapidly expanding global markets. Welsh companies are not only participating in those industries, they are shaping them.
The creatives of Wales are a force. They are themselves engines of innovation, investment and economic growth and they are, through this work, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Supporting R&D in this sector allows small companies to develop capabilities, collaborate across disciplines and bring new ideas to market.
I have been fortunate to work alongside creative communities across Wales. What we presented at Outernet reaffirmed something I have long believed. The creative talent in Wales is exceptional. When we invest in it, connect it and give it the confidence to engage boldly, it delivers extraordinary results.
While Media Cymru’s initial programme is approaching its final phase, the foundations we have built are designed to last far beyond it and leave a legacy.
Throughout our 2026 showcase year, we will continue spotlighting the groundbreaking projects supported through Media Cymru. That journey will culminate in PLAYBACK, a three-day festival of innovation taking place in Cardiff this September.
PLAYBACK will bring together creatives, technologists, researchers, businesses and investors to explore the work emerging from Wales’ creative innovation ecosystem and the opportunities it is creating. If you want to see where the future of media innovation is being shaped, come and find us.
And remember St David’s advice. Do the little things. Because sometimes those little things can lead to the biggest screens and stages in the world.
