TV, film and new media companies in Sussex are to get a welcome shot in the arm.

Mediabusiness.net, a Government-funded web site that goes online next month, is backed by the South East of England Development Agency which provides free business training for anyone involved in the media industry, whether it be celluloid, broadcast, web or CD-based.

Sussex, and especially Brighton, is one of the UK's new media hot spots with new businesses opening on a regular basis.

The enterprise is a web-based resource centre with hard-nosed business advice for media professionals and aims to be the starting point for both new media start-ups in the region and for established media companies looking to grow their business in the light of the digital media explosion.

The site features sections to help users manage their business or career, understand digital media or learn more about the cutting edge world of computer games. Content is focused very firmly in the real world, with advice on marketing, management and how to secure both public and private funding while growing a business and keeping a talented team together.

The web site is supported by a series of seminars under the banner of the Mediabusiness.net Leadership Forum, at which media industry notables such as Peter Molyneux, of Lionhead Studios, Ramona Liberoff and Peter Bazalgette, of Bazal Productionz, have already shared their visions and experience. Further events led by industry VIPs are planned for later in the year.

The www.Mediabusiness.net website will be officially opened on April 6 at an event hosted by Roger Laughton, chairman of SkillsTrain and former managing director of United Productions.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.