Plans for a £475m North East film studio are set to move ahead this month as a search gets under way to find the first contractors to bring the landmark development to life.
It is hoped that the Crown Work Studios in Sunderland will be one of the most significant economic developments for the region since the Nissan plant was built in the 1980s, bringing the potential for thousands of jobs. FulwellCain Studios, a joint venture between global entertainment firm Fulwell 73 and Cain International, is leading plans to build the £475m studios, which will eventually have 20 stages on a plot of land on the banks of the river Wear.
Sunderland City Council and the North East mayoral authority have confirmed investment of up to £120m towards the project, helping to leverage £450m from production company Fulwell 73 and financiers Cain International. A “trailblazer” extension of the devolution deal was announced in March to include £25m to develop the Riverside Sunderland area for the studios.
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Plans for the studios were green lit by Sunderland City Council earlier this year, including specific plans for phase one of the studios while two further phases received outline consent.
The first phase will include around 360,000 sqft spread over four sound stages, with a production office attached to each, six production support workshop buildings, a gateway building, a 350-space multi-storey car park, a substation and waste centre and ancillary infrastructure.
Work on the site is set to start this summer, with Sunderland City Council gearing up to invite bids for the £15m enabling works package which will prepare the former shipyard site at Pallion. The work will include demolition of the existing infrastructure on the site and filling it with aggregates, as well as construction of minor structures. The council will provide more details when the bid document goes out on NEPO’s procurement portal on July 15.
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Peter McIntyre, executive director of city development at Sunderland City Council, said: “The start of this work – should this package of funding be green lit by the Combined Authority later this month – represents an exciting milestone as we look to prepare the ground for the arrival of a new sector in Sunderland - one that will be transformational for the city and its economy, and the wider North East region.
“There is so much happening in Sunderland right now: the Riverside development and new footbridge are taking shape, work is well under way on the new Eye Hospital and Culture House and we have a superb new train station providing a pleasant welcome to the city and with the development of this site, to pave the way for a new sector to grow in the city, it’s a fantastic time to live, work and spend time in Sunderland.”
It is hoped that thousands of people living across the region will benefit from the jobs and inward investment generated by the studios. When complete, it is expected that the studios will generate £336m GVA for the local economy every year, while also supporting jobs and contract opportunities for carpenters, engineers, designers and drivers, electricians, hair and make-up artists, and medics.
Leo Pearlman, managing director at Fulwell 73 added: “Another small step on the journey towards bringing Hollywood to the North East!”