Great Point Media buys Seren Studios in Wales
Wales’ Seren Studios (Seren Stiwdios), home to Sherlock season 4, Sky's A Discovery of Witches and the upcoming Netflix film Havoc with Tom Hardy, has been sold by the Welsh government to Great Point Media.
The new owners plan to increase the studio size to 257,00sq ft, comprising four state-of-the-art studios and a comprehensive support infrastructure.
The development of the Cardiff-based facility will be rolled out across two phases with the finished hub becoming the headquarters for Great Point Studios.
Great Point Studios is busy developing many other sites in the US, including a studio for Lionsgate in Yonkers, New York with further campuses in Buffalo, New York and Newark, New Jersey. The company is also building a new production facility in Atlanta, Georgia.
Seren Studios had been part of the Pinewood Studio project, acquired in 2014. In 2020, Great Point Media entered into a 10-year lease to manage the studio and invested £6m in developing a virtual production hub.
Great Point met the requirements to acquire the freehold within a set window of time, from April 2020-March 2025, which they have now done at a purchase cost of £9.35m excluding VAT, according to the Welsh government statement.
Alongside the development of the studio's physical space, a collaborative training facility will be created in order to "build the supply of local skills and talent and embed the studio as an innovation hub for virtual production."
"The studios' expansion will deliver jobs, wealth and growth for the wider supply chain and region," the statement continued.
Robert Halmi, Great Point Studios founder and CEO, added: "Cardiff has a thriving creative community and offers highly skilled industry professionals not to mention a beautiful setting for any location filming. With the continued strong demand for content, purchasing Seren Stiwdios and expanding our footprint in Wales was a natural next step.
"We look forward to continuing our commitment to education, local community involvement and further developing many opportunities at Great Point Studios Wales as the country continues to experience such tremendous growth."
While Great Point Media itself is UK-based, they have partnered with US fund manager MC Credit Partners to finance their film and TV projects.
A version of this article appeared on our sister site, KFTV.
Sherlock image via BBC.
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