SDCC calls “action” on new movie studio

South Dublin County Council has called “action” on a new movie studio.

The Dublin Fields movie studio has been granted planning permission by South Dublin County Council, with the 56-acre site said to rival England’s Shepperton Studios in size.

The site will be located at Grange Castle Business Park, and will consist of six sound stages along with 11 internal sound stages.

Over 74,000 square metres of gross floor space will be available to top Hollywood productions.

With the United Kingdom becoming the world’s leading destination for film productions – industry publications have reported film productions being delayed because there is so much demand for sound stages in the UK – Dublin is set to pick up the slack.

The entry of Netflix and Amazon into the cinema business (and more specifically, producing the kinds of big-budget films that necessitate soundstages during production) has led to a major boom in Europe’s film production capabilities.

Once the site is operational, it is estimated that over 2,000 people will be hired on and off-site.

As part of the deal, RTÉ reported that a fee of €8.8 million euro was requested by South Dublin County Council to fund infrastructure in the area which Lens Media LTD, the applicants, were willing to pay to get the project over the line.

A Lens Media spokesperson said the facility will be “unique” in terms of its scale, spec and location, and will be amongst the top film and television production facilities in Europe.

“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.”

Tom Phillips + Associates, the other major moving part in the deal, believes that the stage could be the largest in the European Union.

Recent box office hit Nosferatu was filmed entirely on soundstages in the Czech Republic while box office juggernaut Barbie was filmed at London’s Shepperton Studios.

Banbridge in Northern Ireland was one of the primary filming locations for global fantasy hit Game Of Thrones, while Belfast’s Harbour Studios opened in 2023 to great fanfare.

Ardmore Studios was established in the late 1950s and in more recent times has been the production hub for the global hit show Vikings.

As far back as the 1960s, the Irish government has rolled out the proverbial red carpet for Hollywood – during the production of David Lean’s 1916 Rising themed epic Ryan’s Daughter, an extensive, fully functioning rural Irish village was built for the film with hopes of it becoming a major production hub and tourist attraction for Kerry.

The set was offered to locals for free, but was then demolished after locals failed to reach an agreement about how it can be used.

The plan for a Southside film studio has been long in the works, with the project first floated in June 2021.

At that time, South Dublin County Council agreed that the 56-acre site could be put up for sale.

Lens Media consists of film and television industry professionals, most notably Irish producer Alan Moloney.

Moloney served as a producer on the recent Cillian Murphy box office hit Small Things Like These, while Oscar-nominated producer Gary Levinsohn, who produced Saving Private Ryan, is also part of the company.

Dublin is no stranger to being depicted on the big screen; in the 1960s Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor made the Gresham Hotel on O’Connell Street their temporary home while the Welshman filmed The Spy Who Came In From The Cold in and around Smithfield.

In more recent times, Dublin was seen in the vampire bloodfest Abigal (starring Southsider Alisha Weir) while in recent times Hollywood star Paul Rudd has been spotted around Dublin while filming his new film Power Ballad.

Dublin getting the Hollywood limelight has caused concern from a Sinn Féin TD who believes that Greystones is losing out while South Dublin is gaining.

The €300 million Greystones Media Campus has remained unfinished since work stopped suddenly in 2022, with the stoppage on the site believed to be a major factor in the South Dublin project getting the green light.

Sinn Féin’s John Brady told The Irish Independent that the Dublin Fields project getting the go-ahead is an example of the government favouring Dublin over regional balance.

“The decision to forge ahead with Dublin Fields while allowing Greystones to stagnate raises broader concerns about accountability and strategic planning in public investment. Taxpayer money should not be funnelled into high-profile projects only to see them shelved without explanation or resolution,” he said.

With soundstage space at a premium in the film industry, “action!” is likely to be called on the Dublin Fields project before too long.