A BRAND new family adventure series on BBC has made history by becoming the first project to receive cash from the Liverpool City Region (LCR) Production Fund.

Produced by Liverpool-based Leopard Pictures, the five-part fantasy drama The Snow Spider submitted a bid for financial support from the production fund following the launch in March.

Over six weeks, Leopard Pictures filmed the drama across Wirral including along the coastline and in a vacant school which was used as a temporary studio.

The company working in partnership with Liverpool Film Office to source the locations, crew and to ensure all relevant filming permissions were in place.

Managing director of Leopard Pictures Kristian Smith told the Globe: “Leopard Pictures is committed to making content and telling stories from the North.

"Liverpool is the perfect home for us. With many of us in the Leopard team having strong links to Wirral and Liverpool, we are determined to continue to grow our Liverpool base, with new people joining the team through 2020.

"We’re incredibly grateful to Liverpool Film Office for helping us make our latest drama series.”

Leopard Pictures also took on six trainees to give them on-set experience, assist in camera and lighting, make-up and work in the production departments.

Head of Liverpool Film Office and LCR Production Fund Manager Lynn Saunders said: “Since its launch back in March, we’ve been inundated with requests for funding by production companies from all over the world.

“It’s wonderful to be in a position where we can financially support our first project, giving us a direct stake in the production which allows us to encourage more local employment, use of local businesses, as well as training initiatives for those looking to break in to industry.

“We’ve helped facilitate productions over the last 30 years, and we’re thrilled to venture into this new way of working which can only have positive, tangible benefits to the city region.”

The Snow Spider is based on Jenny Nimmo's bestselling book trilogy which has been adapted for television by BAFTA award-winning Owen Sheers and will be aired on CBBC and BBC Wales in 2020.

Metro mayor Steve Rotheram added: “Liverpool City Region has long been one of the UK’s creative hubs so it was absolutely right that as a Combined Authority we invested £2 million in this Film Fund.

"It’s great to see it start coming to fruition through projects like this.

“By attracting even more productions to film here, we can help to develop the kind of creative ecosystem that delivers highly-skilled jobs for local people, and opportunities for local businesses to grow.”

A total of 366 film and TV projects were filmed in Merseyside in 2018, bringing a fantastic £16.1m to the local economy.