Hauts-de-France creative industries
The creative sector is booming in Hauts-de-France. Synergies between teams in business, academia and R&D are so powerful and work so well together that it’s easy to create innovative projects. We have just what you need to set up your business—complete ecosystems and talented people trained by world-class educational institutions.
Hauts-de-France creative industries
The creative sector is booming in Hauts-de-France. Synergies between teams in business, academia and R&D are so powerful and work so well together that it’s easy to create innovative projects. We have just what you need to set up your business—complete ecosystems and talented people trained by world-class educational institutions.
Your business belongs here
The creative industry is a vital part of life in our region—enriching the local business community through the jobs and value it creates, the centers of excellence and research labs it founds, and the premium talent and training it attracts.
The Regional Council supports creative industries as part of its strategy to position Hauts-de-France as an economic powerhouse, given creative talents’ proven ability to improve the region’s image and appeal.
Who’s already here?
Application de méditation de pleine conscience
Agence spécialisée en contenu 3D Photo-réaliste Réalité Virtuelle & Augmentée
Groupe indépendant de création numérique spécialisé dans le domaine du divertissement : jeux vidéo, animation, édition, jeux de plateau
Produit et distribue des séries animées et des jeux interactifs pour les enfants
Périphériques gaming, connecte l’art et le public par une expérience digitale plus interactive et plus ludique
Distribution d'accessoires pour consoles de jeux vidéo, ainsi que dans la distribution de jeux vidéo en Europe
Hologrammes interactifs
Kailsta bouscule le merchandising avec un logiciel de conception de linéaire 3D utilisant une technologie immersive & réaliste
Studio de jeux expert en serious games, AR/VR, expériences interactives
Atelier 801 est un studio de création de jeux vidéo innovants, multijoueur à fort aspect communautaire
Son 3D spécialement pour le Gaming
Audace associe l’apprentissage au digital par la conception et le développement de dispositifs digitaux qui modernisent les plans de formation
Conçoit un ensemble de solutions permettant de plonger l’apprenant au cœur du métier où il doit être formé
Studio d'enregistrement et de répétition à proximité de Lille
Doublage, sous-titrage, voice-over et audio description dans toutes les langues, services de post-production audiovisuelle
Something Big est un studio de développement créatif de films et séries à destination des enfants
Post-production, effets spéciaux.
Gestion et exploitation du studio de tournage de 500m2 sur la Plaine Images
Conçoit et produit du son pour la communication, l'audiovisuel et les jeux vidéo
Adictiz est une solution de création de jeux marketing à destination des annonceurs et des agences
Cavalcade est un studio réalisant des projets audiovisuels depuis l’idée jusqu’au rendu final
Cyber Group Studios crée et adapte des réalisations sous forme de séries animées ou de jeux vidéo
Phoceis est une agence digitale innovante, spécialisée dans le commerce connecté et omnicanal
Studio Redfrog est à la fois une société de production et un studio d'animation
Studio postproduction, réputé pour ses films d’animations et FX, évolue au niveau français, européen et international sur des grosses productions (Astérix et le domaine des dieux, Ghost Rider)
A fast-growing trio in in Hauts-de-France
The region has a vibrant ecosystem for audiovisual and film content production. Recent arrivals include:
- Lylo, a video localization specialist
- MadLab Animations, specialized in 2D animation
- Grid, a visual content post-production studio known for its expertise in 3D and special effects.
The audiovisual trio—film, animation and television—specialize in producing images and motion pictures, producing and publishing music and sound, providing graphic and other design services, and creating 3D content. Together these represent:
- Over 500 businesses
- 2,560 full-time jobs
- 2,400 intermittent jobs
Companies in creative industries often use workers under “intermittent” contracts because of the flexibility this allows. In audiovisual businesses, some 58% of all workers are employed in this capacity, a percentage that rises to 80% in content production.
Our region’s video game ecosystem brings key advantages to the table:
- A wide range of offers
- Expert knowledge of virtual reality technology
- Expertise in eSports
Audiovisual (film, animation, television)
A high-energy, fast-moving sector with over 100 businesses, including:
- 177 movie theaters
- 11 animation studios
- 6 film production consultants
In 2018, Hauts-de-France was chosen to host Series Mania, a new international festival for TV series—a mark of recognition and a fantastic opportunity to showcase our expertise. The event brings together 2,500 of the industry’s top television series actors, writers and producers every year.
Learn more about how our film and audiovisual tax credit can help you:
This tax credit applies to production outlays on shooting and producing feature films, television series, documentaries and animated films. In 2016, it encouraged many French and foreign film shoots to relocate to France. One prime example of a shoot moving to Hauts-de-France was Christopher Nolan’s award-winning Dunkirk.
Fast facts:
- More filming days: +11% in 2016
- Explosion in cartoon production
- 40% increase in spending in France—an extra €500 million in a total of €1.76 billion
- 15,000 intermittent jobs created
Video games
- Some 200 companies operate in the fast-growing market for cloud gaming, party video games, online games, mobile games, board games, advergames and more
- 2 leaders: Ankama and Big Ben Interactive
Learn more about our new video game tax credit
Our region was the first in France to set up a tax credit fund especially for video games, with an annual budget of €600,000. The initiators say their aim was to “help boost video game companies in Hauts-de-France, since they operate in a competitive global market.” A panel of experts selects winning projects and allocates funding:
- Support for a prototype (up to €50,000 per project)
- Support for production (up to €200,000 per project)
Virtual and augmented reality
In Hauts-de-France, we have:
- Over 300 researchers
- Over 20 startups specializing in AI (artificial intelligence).
The resources you need
No matter what type of creative business you operate or what needs you have, we’ve got the support and solutions you need to get up and running. In Hauts-de-France, our support for the creative industries led us to create the infrastructure that drives growth in visual content, especially for audiovisual companies, content production businesses and video game developers. Here are our seven favorite sites to help you get your business off on the right foot:
Euratechnologies
THE place to go for IT companies in France—and also the largest incubator in Europe.
Euratechnologies is the perfect place for digital companies of all types, from hardware and software to any company dealing with technology.
Choosing Euratechnologies for your company brings major competitive benefits:
- extensive R&D capacity
- strong synergies with other businesses on site
- partnership and support from Euratech teams
New international companies qualify for soft landing solutions, including two months of free test marketing (renewable once). Located in the heart of the Lille region, Euratechnologies has over 300 companies and 4,000 employees in its original building.
The cluster adopted a smart spin-off strategy to be as close to consumers as possible and cover more areas within each sector:
- Blanchemaille for e-commerce
- AgTech for smart farming
- FALC for fintech, Insurtech, legaltech and cybersecurity
- An incubator in Saint Quentin for robotics and Industry 4.0
La Plaine Images
In the heart of the Lille region, Roubaix/Tourcoing’s Plaine Images is a cluster dedicated to visual stories (content creation, video games, film and virtual reality).
Plaine Images is currently home to 125 companies and 1,800 employees, researchers, coworkers and students (at three schools: Pole 3D/W3 académie/artFX), offering over 40,000 sq m of office space.
TORE (The Open Reality Experience)
The Open Reality Experience—the world’s first innovative virtual reality experience—is based at Plaine Images. The screen is a half-sphere shape with no edges, allowing users to explore the 3D environment with no visual interruption for 180° and at roughly the same distance from the user. No other immersive environment compares with this technological breakthrough!
The Visual Sciences and Culture Program
Plaine Images-based Visual Sciences and Culture Program is at once a research program and a world-class technology platform where innovators and businesses can conduct and share digital media and visual content.
Serre Numérique
Serre Numérique is a center of excellence in Valenciennes devoted to digital arts, including video games, animation and design. The center offers residents a vibrant ecosystem and a first-rate 17,000 sq m work environment, all under one roof. Facilities currently include:
- Rubika Group’s three world-class educational institutions: Rubika Animation, Rubika Video Game and Rubika are talent pools for direct hires and sources of synergies in product development
- a 3,000 sq m corporate space for incubators and accelerators
- an applied research and technology transfer center
Arenberg Creative Mine
Arenberg Creative Mine is a renovated mining site serving audiovisual projects. It offers users:
- a location for film shoots
- a business center
- a film studio with high-tech equipment
Learn more about the state-of-the-art DeVisu Lab
Located at the Arenberg site since October 2015, the DeVisu research lab (Urban and Visual Design) at Université Polytechnic Hauts-de-France (formerly UVHC) offers users unparalleled working conditions:
- a multipurpose projection room
- cutting-edge equipment to create innovative prototypes and assess them with test groups
- a television studio
- a test center equipped with a cyclorama backdrop for shoots
- editing and grading suites
- modular on-site office space ranging from 18 sq m to 350 sq m in size
Louvre Lens Vallée
Louvre Lens Vallée offers an unique incubator that promotes entrepreneurship by creating a bridge between the region and the Louvre-Lens Museum.
This cultural business incubator is an ideal home for digital culture innovation projects, offering entrepreneurs scope for pushing back boundaries and sources of inspiration.
What can Louvre Lens Vallée offer you?
- a 6-step corporate support program, from initial assessment to expansion abroad
- a project incubator/accelerator
- 146 sq m of prototyping and testing space
Quai de l’Innovation in Amiens
In the very heart of Amiens, the 3,000 sq m Quai de l’Innovation helps startups launch innovative projects. International companies eager to harness the energy percolating through Amiens’ business scene and R&D sector can sign up for the unit’s assistance program, and use its accelerator to identify the best growth strategy for their business.
Créatis in Saint Quentin
Saint-Quentin, located midway between Lille and Paris, has developed a business accelerator called Créatis—a top-notch facility hosting innovative companies operating in digital, cloud computing and business services. Euratechnologies, too, has opened a business incubator and startup accelerator in this space. It specializes in robotics and industry 4.0.
Find your future employees at our top-flight schools
Alumni of our world-class educational institutions specializing in creative fields are nothing less than exceptional. They’ve been trained by the best and their talent is always in high demand. But training does not stop at graduation—these same schools also offer continuing professional development courses to cultivate the wealth of skills and expertise in the region.
Fast facts about creative industry training
Offering the right kind of training—and a lot of it—is essential to grow the visual content sector’s network in the region, especially since this sector appeals to young people. And it explains why we have 7,800 students taking specialized courses at 25 schools of higher education.
Source: Hauts-de-France Chamber of Commerce
Data from institutions, the Hauts-de-France region Chamber of Commerce/Pictanovo
Specialized centers
These centers and association’s role is to bring people together, encourage strategic relationships and help bring ground-breaking projects to life. They also showcase creative industries on international markets.
Over the years, our commitment to support the audiovisual and film industries in Hauts-de-France has grown. We have stepped up our aid to all forms and genres through seven dedicated funds:
- Film and TV – Short films – Documentaries
- Video games
- Nouveaux Médias
- Nonprofit animation and creation (using development funds from Emergence)
- Regional Film Commission, one-on-one support and programs
In Hauts-de-France, we drive growth in the region—and in France as a whole—by making resources available to creative talents.
Close-up: Pictanovo—spearheading the creative industry
Pictanovo is an association focused on:
- Fostering talent
- Creating film and audiovisual content
- Identify innovation and breakthroughs in the creative industry
Mission: foster cooperation between main stakeholders in digital arts, including companies, educational institutions and research platforms.
Pictanovo brings together three centers of excellence: Plaine Images, Serre Numérique and Arenberg Creative Mine. Together they house 200 companies, 22 research teams and 9 trade associations.
Pictanovo provides financial support for writing, developing and/or producing feature films, series and short films, acting as co-producer for many projects. The fund is co-financed by France’s national center for film and animation (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée).
Video games
Game IN is an association founded in 2009 by regional video game professionals including development studios, publishers, distributors, accessory manufacturers, educational institutions and specialized service providers.
Members focus on:
- Providing professional training
- Contributing expert guidance
- Developing exports
- Monitoring and passing on information
- Creating tools, including the playtest Play in lab.
They organize a wide variety of events ranging from trade days to meetings, happy hours and even Game Camp, a huge annual gathering of French video game professionals in Lille.
For the animation sector
NORANIM is a trade association for animators in northern France. Membership currently includes 24 organizations ranging from production companies to design studios, educational institutions and educators working in visual arts and broadcasting. The association promotes the industry throughout Europe, helps members move into export markets, and encourages innovative partnerships.
It welcomes members in six areas:
- Producers
- Studios
- Schools and training programs
- Visual arts and broadcasting
- Technicians
- Writers
For augmented reality
RA’pro is an association set up to promote the development and use of augmented reality by businesses, institutions and individuals in France. To do so, it organizes events and builds partnerships with companies to show them how they can reap the benefits of augmented reality.
