Creative Production Synergies in Penrith and the Blue Mountains

Regional leadership in arts and cultural production is evident in Penrith and the Blue Mountains through the different yet complementary approaches of the City Councils. This research project began in August 2019, the interview phase was completed in early December 2019, and this report was completed in June 2020. Therefore, the research spanned a very challenging period of drought and severe bushfires over the summer across New South Wales, followed almost immediately by the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses in arts and recreation services were among the first and most severely affected by the need to enforce Government social distancing restrictions, with 94 per cent of the sector reporting an adverse impact of the Government restrictions in the March Business COVID-19 survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2020). This report has shown the need for investment in creative production capacity building" a need which has now significantly increased.