Written by on Sep 16, 2013. Posted in On Location

Titanic Quarter in Belfast plans new filming facility alongside Paint Hall Studio

A new studio facility is being planned for development in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast in Northern Ireland. The urban-waterfront region already houses Titanic Studios, encompassing Paint Hall studio, which hosts HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones.

Titanic Quarter authorities want to develop a new filming facility within the next eight months to help boost Northern Ireland’s production industry. The plan has the backing of Northern Ireland’s first and deputy first ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, who spoke to the BBC while on an investment trip to New York, which included a tour of Steiner Studios in Brooklyn.

“We are busy working on a project right now and we will be putting in for planning in a couple of month's time, maybe in a little bit less,” Titanic Quarter chief executive Davod Gavaghan told the outlet: “We would like to have studios up for May, 2014, which is in time for the next production cycle.”

“The craftsmanship is there [in Northern Ireland] and the crew base is there,” Steiner Studios boss Doug Steiner told the outlet: “At this point, Game of Thrones is doing remarkably well and you have an English-speaking workforce, which is very helpful. And the production tax credits available in the UK are what are necessary to compete on a global scale.”

We would like to have studios up for May, 2014, which is in time for the next production cycle.

Davod Gavaghan, Titanic Quarter

Richard Williams, CEO of Northern Ireland Screen, recently predicted that direct production spending in the region will increase to around GBP240 million over the next four years.

(Game of Thrones stills: HBO)