The owners of a Belfast film studio currently playing host to a Netflix production have announced ambitious expansion plans.
They plan to increase the existing studio space at Loop Studios, based in the old Britvic factory on the city’s Castlereagh Road, into a new 23,000 square foot space, as well as creating over 25,000 square feet of new workshop space.
The studio was the setting for a number of high-profile productions including Game of Thrones and Dracula Untold and is currently occupied by the Netflix film School for Good and Evil starring Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington.
Plans to expand the studio - which are subject to approval - reflect the continued growth of Northern Ireland’s film industry, one which has been cemented by a raft of television and movies over the last number of years.
And it marks further diversification for Cookstown headquartered LCC Group, one of Northern Ireland’s biggest companies which is better known for its coal and oil importing business as evidenced by its original name Lissan Coal Company. It recorded turnover of nearly £1 billion in its latest accounts and stands as the fifth largest company in Northern Ireland, according to Ulster Business’s Top 100 Northern Ireland Companies.
The studio is also undergoing a £4 million refurbishment which is expected be completed in the summer.
Stuart Draffin of Portbannis is acting for the LCC Group and said the expansion will be a boost for the film and television production sector in Northern Ireland.
“Loop Studios have provided facilities for some of the biggest studio operators and production companies in global film and television and these expansion plans will go some way to improving the facilities on offer at the Castlereagh Road site,” he said. “This application comes as a response to great encouragement and support from NI Screen and a thorough conversation between the production companies which have been working at the studios and the owners to ensure that the needs of these production companies can be met into the future.
“A public consultation on the plans will commence in the coming weeks and we are looking forward to engaging with residents, elected representatives and other stakeholders.”
The consultation is expected to get underway on Monday 31st May and run for four weeks.
