Plaid Cymru AM Lindsay Whittle has criticised comments by the Vice Chancellor of the University of South Wales that the location for filming of a promotional movie starring Ioan Gruffudd was “immaterial to the message”.
Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East Lindsay Whittle wrote twice to Professor Julie Lydon over the decision to film the advertisement in Somerset – and not in Wales.
Initially, in statements to the media a university spokesperson said using the location in England was done to avoid the rain. “It’s simply a question of meteorology rather than patriotism. The forecast was for torrential rain in Wales on the day we had him, so we made the decision to film where we knew the weather was predicted to be better. The ad has a very Welsh flavour with one of Wales’s top stars,” said the spokesperson.
But in a letter to the Assembly Member, Professor Lydon admitted that the weather forecast was “one factor for us in the decision on where to film”. “We had to take account of Ioan Gruffudd’s availability as we only had a short time with him before he had to return to Los Angeles. We took account of all of the available information and made a pragmatic judgement call on the location ahead of the actual shoot on the basis of what we believed was our best chance to deliver the advert.
“Neither the advert itself or the university has ever claimed that the generic background represented Wales nor was it intended to – the message of self-empowerment is universal.”
In a second letter, Professor Lydon said: “The advert was filmed on August 19, 2013. I cannot tell you on what date the decision was taken to film in Somerset because…..the location of the shoot was immaterial to the message and as such it was not seen as a significant issue.”
Lindsay Whittle said: “The university may never had claimed the generic background represented Wales but I certainly don’t think it is immaterial where it was filmed.
“I think anyone watching an advertisement about the University of South Wales would naturally assume it was filmed in the country where the university was based, particularly following Ioan Gruffudd’s comments. I wonder whether Bristol or Bath universities would film a promotion movie in Wales – I very much doubt it.
“I’ve also heard nothing in correspondence from the university to suggest that the weather was ever a major factor. It seems to me that Somerset was an easy location for a West Country PR agency to film.
“The Vice Chancellor was also unable to tell me on what date the decision to film in Somerset was taken. It would have been interesting to find that out so we could compare weather forecasts in Wales and Somerset. I suspect that it was always going to be filmed in Somerset when the furore broke out the weather was used as justification.
“I regret that Ioan Gruffudd gave the wrong impression to people over the location for filming.”
Ioan Gruffudd was quoted as saying: “As a proud Welshman I am delighted to help the University of South Wales promote attendance. And to come and do that in Wales – well, what could be better?”
