In partnership with Creative Black Country, Black Country Digital Firsts is breaking down barriers to funding, fostering local storytelling, and empowering artists in the Black Country to showcase their creativity on both regional and national stages.
Launched in 2023, the initiative is a partnership programme designed to help Black Country artists and creatives develop creative digital skills, build confidence, access development support, with creatives being supported to create new digital commissions.
Theatre-makers, musicians, artists, writers, visual artists and community organisations from Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell and Dudley were invited to apply to the programme to develop creative digital skills and access development support for a potential digital commission.
So far there have been two cohorts, one in 2024 and one in 2025, who have benefited from the project and received support to develop ideas that move their practice into the digital realm. The projects have been diverse and have allowed participants to push their work into new creative territories while exploring digital tools in meaningful ways.
Black Country by the Sea
Alex Billingham
Black Country by the Sea is a short film that explores a future where the waters have risen and humans are no longer in control. Styled after Telly Savalas’ cult 1981 tourist-information film Telly Savalas Looks at Birmingham (yes, it’s real and on YouTube), this light-hearted mock “tourist information” short invites octopuses to see the funny humans.
Our Octopus Overlords find us such strange little creatures that they’ve built a human reserve. Come and watch the humans in their “natural” habitat! Black Country by the Sea is their perfect (at least in their eyes) recreation of our world.
Filmed across multiple locations in the Black Country and the North Atlantic Ocean, with location shoots at the Black Country Living Museum.
Communi-Tea
Dorothy Parkes Centre
To celebrate 25 years of serving the community, The Dorothy Parkes Centre launched ‘Communi-Tea’ — a series of heartwarming reflections from those involved within the centre. The heartwarming stories – accessed via QR codes that are printed on mugs and bags used within the venue – highlight the power of community, resilience, and shared humanity.
When people visit the centre, they always receive a warm welcome and often a hot drink. With this in mind, they decided to use a mug as a way of accessing a story rather than the traditional method of reading it in a book. Combining community connection and digital innovation this project brings people together over a simple cup of tea, creating connections, conversations, and community warmth.
Nothing Happens Everywhere
Black Country Type, Tom Hicks
Black Country Type is a short film blending poetry, music, and video to reflect the Black Country’s unique atmosphere, inspired by the region’s typography and architecture.
Tom collaborated with The Space’s Sarah Butcher, an experienced producer who was instrumental in helping him shape the planning of the film and Rob Glover worked with Tom to create a soundscape for the film that was recorded at several locations across the Black Country. Poet Liz Berry created an entirely new poem for the film, creating several versions for the film as it developed, making detailed notes as she went along.
Find out more about Black Country Digital Firsts
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