Colin Philpott: Bradford puts itself in the picture as a world-class city

Under the motto "Think Bradford, think Film. Think Film, think Bradford", England's fourth largest metropolitan district intends to use the accolade as a key plank in its regeneration strategy in the coming years. Those of us involved in the City of Film project see clear cultural, social, educational and economic benefits for Bradford and the wider Yorkshire region.

Bradford's bid was based on three things – first of all, the city's considerable contribution to the history of film and cinema. The list of Bradford's film and TV credits is long including Billy Liar, The Railway Children, Yanks, Rita, Sue and Bob too, and more recently the Red Riding Trilogy – the list goes on.

Secondly, it was based on Bradford having the National Media Museum which includes film within its remit and which attracts up to 700,000 people a year, bringing with them 30m of tourism spending.

And thirdly, it was based on Bradford's potential for film. The city's advantages as a film-making location are considerable – a fantastic mix of landscapes, urban and rural, and a wonderfully diverse population.

The original partners in the City of Film – the City of Bradford, Screen Yorkshire and the National Media Museum – now supplemented by a range of other supporters believe that Bradford can build on the strengths that won the City of Film status to help the city and the wider region forward in a number of ways.

First of all, we aim to make Bradford a world-class place to enjoy film – that's about building up the programme of the museum and other venues in and beyond Bradford so that residents and visitors alike can enjoy film in the best possible facilities.

As a starter, the Bradford International Film Festival – which opens tonight and runs until March 28 is – for the first time – spreading out from its hub at the museum and including nine other venues in Bradford and beyond including Hebden Bridge, Pocklington and Leeds. This will continue in future years as we pursue the objective of making the Festival – already in its 16th year and well-established – the best film festival in England outside London.

However, it's not just about providing opportunities for enjoying film in regular cinemas. This weekend's City of Film launch weekend will feature a pop-up cinema in an empty shop and there'll be ongoing support for community film societies in the coming years so that the opportunities to enjoy film in a variety of locations increase.

Secondly, we aim to make Bradford a world-class place to learn about film and to learn through film. We are looking at ways of using the glamour of film to contribute to the raising of standards and aspirations particularly among young people. Already, the University of Bradford is announcing new film projects and more exciting new ideas are in the pipeline.

Thirdly, we aim to establish Bradford as a world-class place to make films – that's about encouraging emerging film-makers within the city but also getting the film industry to come to Bradford – getting them to choose our city as their location for making films and attracting film industry events to Bradford. So, "Made in Bradford" film bursaries have been established to support new film-makers and we're launching a campaign to get a major film industry event to Bradford in the next few years.

And, finally, we aim to make Bradford a world-class place to visit for film. As well as its cinemas and film festivals, Bradford and the wider Yorkshire region are rich with film and TV locations and there's an enduring appetite for visiting places where films and TV programmes were shot. Welcome to Yorkshire has already supported some initial work to help create a much more developed tourism offer built around film.

All of this can mean a stronger cultural offer, a more skilled workforce, more visitors to our region. All of this can mean a more attractive place to live and work, a stronger economy and, crucially, a higher profile for

our region.

Bradford isn't precious about the City of Film badge. So we're looking for people across Yorkshire to join us in making the most of this designation. We're looking for people who can see the advantages of hitching themselves and their businesses to City of Film. We're looking for people who can see how this can make a difference for them.

So come on Yorkshire, get behind Bradford. The world's first City of Film isn't Venice or Cannes or Mumbai or London, it's right here in Yorkshire.

Colin Philpott is Director of the National Media Museum and a member of the Bradford City of Film Board.