Peter Rudge, Chair of Platform, was in Los Angeles at the start of June to present a talk about the development and launch of the moving image cluster.

The talk was part of an international conference on the creative industries, held at the prestigious Chapman University in Los Angeles.

The conference examined the role that the creative industries can play in forging transatlantic economic and research networks and Peter spoke about the creation of Platform and how that might be a springboard for developing international projects for the cluster members and stakeholders.

There was considerable interest in the uniqueness of Platform, its geographical position and the heritage of creativity and innovation of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire that the cluster has been built upon.

Links with projects in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Dijon in France are already being discussed, providing a great opportunity to promote Platform internationally and create business and opportunities for our members.

Peter said, “It’s great to see Platform gaining so much traction so quickly. The interest and response to what we’re doing is amazing, especially as advocacy was a big part of our initial mission. The goal now is to build on this and get our companies engaging with and exploiting opportunities across the US and Europe.”