Creative Economy
Creative workers and businesses are integral to an inclusive economy and a significant economic driver – in music, film, graphic design, gaming, and more.
The Creative Economy Program focuses on inclusive investments in education, workforce development, jobs, and business growth for arts, culture, film, music, nightlife, and other creative industry occupations.
Why the Creative Economy in Seattle?
Seattle’s legacy of innovation centers creativity in all of its key industries. Seattle's creative workforce drives 18 percent of the city's GDP (2019 Creative Economy Report). That's four times the national average. The Office of Economic Development’s Creative Economy program provides technical assistance and innovative resources to support the growth, retention, and attraction of creative economy jobs and businesses.
Our Work
In partnership with public, private, community, and industry stakeholders, our strategies:
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Help creative workers transition into higher earning jobs,
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Support and expand creative economy sectors,
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Create opportunities for creative sector business and job growth, and
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Connect businesses and workers with high-demand creative skills in our evolving economy.
The Creative Economy Program offers innovative solutions and resources for creative businesses and workers, including the M5 Creative Building, a temporary-use hub for film, music, interactive, events, and other creative businesses and organizations.
Learn more about our Creative Economy programs and available M5 Creative Building workspaces below.
Creative Economy Programs
Film
Seattle is a premier filming destination. For over 75 years, Seattle has made its mark on the film scene as the production center for landmark films, compelling television series, and successful commercial campaigns.
Filming in Seattle? The Seattle Film Office issues permissions for filming (feature films, short films, commercials, documentaries, student projects, television and web programming, music videos, commercial still photography, public service announcements, and other filming/photography projects) on public City of Seattle property.
Our mission is to attract, grow, and keep film production in Seattle. In partnership with Seattle Center, we activated the M5 Creative building (401 Mercer Street) for temporary use for film production and office space, conferences, workshops, controlled events, and filming. Learn about available spaces and program criteria here.
Music
Seattle is renowned as a city steeped in musical tradition - a hub of creativity with a concentration of music industry leaders and musicians representing an expansive array of industry sectors and musical genres. With this diverse range of opportunities, Seattle's music industry is primed to experience even greater growth and development.
The Creative Economy Program’s music program centers its work cultivating partnerships, developing programs, and facilitating connections between the community and the music industry to make Seattle a place where musicians can thrive, communities are strengthened, and music businesses flourish.
Nightlife
Seattle has a vibrant, thriving nightlife sector and the City's approach to supporting, growing and developing this sector has been recognized as a model for cities across the nation.
The City's goals for the nightlife sector are to increase public safety, grow the local economy and improve urban vibrancy. Work towards these goals is led by the Nightlife Business Advocate in conjunction with the Code Compliance Team, and is comprised of two buckets: public safety and economic development.