SPOTLIGHT
REGIONAL UPDATE
Having opened for business in summer
2015, The Yorkshire Studios is already
attracting attention. Mammoth Screen, pro-
ducers of
Poldark
, has been filming its his-
torical TV series
Victoria
at the facility.
“What they offer is a scale,” says Richard
Knight, Head of Production at Screen York-
shire. The new studios are based in former
RAF hangars in Church Fenton, now owned
by Makin Enterprises. Two of the hangars
are 34,500 sq ft by 35ft height; one is at
27,000 sq ft by 28ft height.
Producers who come to The Yorkshire
Studios will not just benefit from the UK
tax credit, they can also apply for support
from the Yorkshire Content Fund, which
can invest in excess of $1.4m (£1m) in fea-
ture film or TV projects.
Mention Northern Ireland and filming space,
and the conversation soon turns to Titanic Stu-
dios and
Game of Thrones
.
After sci-fi movie
City of Ember
became the
first big US production to utilise the Paint Hall
venue at Titanic Studios, the HBO show moved
there in 2009 and has been filming there ever
since, returning to shoot a sixth season in 2015.
Alongside the original Paint Hall,Titanic now
has two new purpose-built sound stages (Hurst
and MacQuitty) with more planned in the
future. And the Titanic Quarter — as the area is
known — is also booming; alongside the pro-
duction space, the regenerated area has apart-
ments, hotels, a college campus and the public
records office.
Game of Thrones
also uses Linen Mill Stu-
dios in Banbridge, a repurposed rural facility
that is a 30-minute drive south east of Belfast.
Indeed, the region has a plethora of production
opportunities, with new spaces opening all the
time. One such facility is the KBL Mill in Bal-
lyclare, which has three sound stages that
recently hosted TV series
The Frankenstein
Chronicles
, starring Sean Bean.
Similarly, the Britvic facility, located a
10-minute drive from central Belfast and
home to three stages, workshops and produc-
tion offices, is also proving popular with
incoming productions. Universal Studios used
it for
Dracula Untold
, and Plan B and Para-
mount’s
The Lost City Of Z
shot there recently.
YORKSHIRE
NORTHERN IRELAND
Planning permission has also been granted
for further studio space on the other bank of
Belfast Lough, across from Titanic Studios. The
venture is being driven by a public-private
partnership between Belfast City Council and
the Harbour Commission, and will see produc-
tion facilities and workshops being built at
Giant’s Park on the North Foreshore.
Moyra Lock, Head of Marketing at Northern
Ireland Screen, emphasises the close-knit
nature of Northern Ireland’s film community.
“Belfast is small and very accessible,” she notes.
“The whole of Northern Ireland is 80 miles
north to south, 110 miles east to west.”
Another draw for filmmakers coming to the
region is that Northern Ireland Screen has its
own production funding that can be utilised
together with the UK’s competitive tax credits.
“If we’re good enough for
Game of Thrones
,
which is the biggest television series in the
world,” says Lock,“we are good enough for any-
one else.”
The Yorkshire Studios
Game of Thrones set at Titanic Studios
Victoria
66
