The Creative Cities Convention (CCC), the UK's leading screen-sector conference outside London, will take place in Glasgow on 19–20 May 2027 at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, expanding to two full days for the first time.
CCC travels to a different UK city each year. It brings together hundreds of broadcasters, streamers, digital-first companies, producers and creative talent from across the nations and regions.
CCC comes to Glasgow seven years after the pandemic cancelled its planned 2020 event, to a city with a large, diverse broadcasting and production sector and longstanding global reputation as both an originator of and a location for film and TV.
What to expect
The 2027 programme will be built around a single question: if British commissioners are buying less, who else is buying? Sessions will cover international finance and co-production, the formats that sell around the world, Scotland’s games sector, and building an audience without a broadcaster. The full theme and programme will be announced in the new year.
BAFTA-winning journalist and filmmaker Mobeen Azhar returns as host for a third year, joined by Kirsty Wark, the Convention’s original host and one of the UK’s most influential broadcasters, who returns as a guest interviewer on home ground in Glasgow.
The Creative Skills Summit returns for its third year alongside the main convention and is once again hosted by presenter and journalist Jameel Shariff. It is free for attendees and supports the freelancers and emerging creatives the UK screen sector depends on, with hands-on sessions and practical routes into the industry. This year's convention in Liverpool drew record delegate numbers, with speakers including Channel 4’s CEO Priya Dogra, Sony’s Wayne Garvie, distinguished screenwriters Andrea Arnold and Tony Schumacher, Craig Cash, Jimmy McGovern and Jimmy Mulville.
Speaker and programme details will be announced in due course. Tickets are available online now.
Sarah Wood, Creative Director of CCC, said: “Scotland makes and sells world-class work in every genre - drama, unscripted, digital, and a games industry that gave us Grand Theft Auto. We should have brought CCC to Glasgow in 2020, and the pandemic took it away. In 2027 we get to put that right, and we’re going bigger than we ever have. Two full days, and for the first time the Skills Summit sits inside the Convention itself. In May we’ll ask the big question: if British commissioners are buying less, who else is buying? Getting to ask it in Glasgow is a genuine thrill.”
David Smith, Interim Executive Director at Screen Scotland, said: “Glasgow has long been one of the UK’s centres of broadcasting and production, for film, TV and radio. With all of the change impacting the media landscape, it’s great that Glasgow will get a proper chance to welcome delegates at the Creative Cities Convention in 2027.
"Bringing our industry together in Glasgow provides an opportunity to showcase the strength of Scotland’s screen and media sectors, to build new relationships and explore how we can create more opportunities for production business from across the UK to develop, grow and succeed.
"The convention will provide an important platform to contribute to conversations about the future of the UK’s media industries and the role they can play in driving creativity, cultural impact and economic growth. We’re particularly looking forward to discussions around public service media and its UK-wide impact, as well as skills and talent development, a key focus for Screen Scotland.”
More information
About Creative Cities Convention
Creative Cities Convention is a non-profit event bringing together people who make and distribute film, TV and digital content outside London. It was founded in 2018 by media executive Ruth Pitt and John McVay, former CEO of Pact. CCC is supported by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5/Paramount and Pact.
CCC is led by Director of Operations Susie Townson, Creative Director Sarah Wood, Partnerships Lead Izzy Huber and Consultant Advisor Ruth Pitt.
Previous host cities: Leeds, Cardiff, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol, Bradford and Liverpool.