It’s ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’ for a new ‘world class’ film studio in Dublin that will create up to 2,800 jobs when operational.
South Dublin Co. Council has granted a ten-year planning permission to Lens Media Ltd for the 56-acre site which includes 20 individual structures over 74,000 square metres of floor space.
The development includes six sound stage buildings that comprise 11 internal sound stages, along with ancillary offices at Grange Castle Business Park, in Nangor, Co. Dublin.
A report by planning consultants Tom Phillips + Associates, lodged with the application, stated that Dublin Fields ‘will have all the elements that will lure top productions from around the world’.
The planning report said it ‘will be a world class studio’ and occupy the top tier of studios globally alongside London’s Pinewood and Trilith in the US.
Underlining the scale of the proposal, the council is requiring the applicants to pay €8.85million towards public infrastructure and facilities benefiting development within the council area.
‘UNIQUE’
The requirement to pay €8.85million is one of 25 conditions the council has attached to the permission at the end of the 106-page planning report.
A spokeswoman for Lens Media said: ‘This planned facility will be unique on the island of Ireland in terms of its scale, spec and location, and among the premier film, TV and entertainment production facilities in Europe.’
The spokeswoman said the studios ‘will more than double the current sound stage offering in Ireland, acting as a catalyst for the indigenous screen industry and catering for growing, unmet production needs’.
Once operational, it will directly support in the region of 2,800 jobs and over 2,100 indirectly.
The spokeswoman added: ‘We would like to acknowledge the support from South Dublin County Council over the last number of years. From the outset, they recognised the positive impact this project will have – on the surrounding area as well as on the rest of the country – and they have worked with us in a collaborative way to get to this positive decision today.’ In their report, Tom Phillips + Associates stated: ‘We believe this will be the largest stage in the European Union, and a unifying step in making Ireland a new hub for the movie and TV industry.’
The television studios are to offer 4,000, 6,000 and 10,000sqm studios, each with the capability of housing live shows with audiences of up to 600 people.
‘LARGEST STAGE’
The report said the emergence and growth of Netflix and Amazon Prime has led to a surge in the demand for high quality content and Ireland ‘is uniquely positioned to cater for and benefit from’ this.
No third party objections were lodged against the scheme.
The report stated that a similar-sized studio at Shepperton, London, has facilitated the production of more than 1,000 films, winning 126 Baftas and 81 Oscars.
The project has been in the works for several years, and in June 2021, South Dublin County Council approved the sale of 56 acres of the park’s land to advance the ambitious plan.
Lens Media initially purchased 48 acres of property from the council to develop the studio in May 2020 at a price of €26.4million, and paid an additional €1.1million for an another eight acres a year later.
The project got ensnared in a High Court dispute in May 2022 after an injunction was secured stopping Lens Media from taking steps to complete the land purchase. However, the Commercial Court was told in May last year the dispute had been resolved. A new shareholder agreement was finalised in May 2023.
Lens Media Ltd is made up of film industry and large-scale property development professionals: Irish producer Alan Moloney, known for Brooklyn, and Oscar-nominated producer Gary Levinsohn of Saving Private Ryan. The other partners include David Cooper, who is a New York-based physician; film-maker Matt Cooper; and Irish-born Christopher Carlin.
Mr Moloney founded Big Things Films with Cillian Murphy in 2022 and produced Small Things Like These. The firm is currently in post-production for Steve, a movie for Netflix with Cillian Murphy in the lead role.
