A MULTI-MILLION euro global production hub officially launched at Troy Studios today (Monday, June 15).
Irish independent production company BiggerStage has committed to creating a global centre of excellence for TV production.
The new facility was officially opened by Minister for Communications, Culture, and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan.
Speaking to the Limerick Post, Pat Kiely, CEO of BiggerStage and former TV3/Virgin Media Television MD, said today’s launch represents what Ireland, and Limerick, does best: “Troy Studios represented for us an opportunity to have four very large studios under the one roof, and to be able to do multiple productions at any one time.”
The hub is also hoped to provide a boost to the local economy in Limerick and the wider Mid West region.
“We have made sure that, in as far as possible, all roles and all positions that are available, we source locally. We’ve booked an incredible number of hotel nights, because there’s a wider benefit of this industry in terms of hospitality, hotels, transport, meals, and entertainment. I think the contribution has been significant, but what we’re also doing is working with University of Limerick and Skillnet and all the other institutions in Limerick and the greater Munster area to ensure there’s a road map and a pipeline of talent coming through to work in this industry,”Mr Kiely added.
When asked what is unique about Limerick as a film destination, Mr Kiely said while Troy Studios was the initial draw, the city centre has made creators stay.
“I’ve just been so impressed at the accessibility. The city is fantastic, and the convenience of location means being able to go to various different other cities from here. You know, Ireland, I laugh when we talk about regions in Ireland. Ireland is one big region,” he said.
“We should stop talking about regions. We can go to the five main cities in one day in a car, and I think that means we don’t really have a region. I think we can make Limerick the centre of the universe in the TV world.”
The investment by BiggerStage comes off the back of the launch of a tax credit which makes a refundable 20 per cent corporation tax credit for production expenditures on unscripted television programmes such as documentaries, reality shows, and game shows.
Following the introduction of the tax credit, BiggerStage significantly scaled up its operations, creating opportunities for skilled jobs across production, technical and creative roles in the Mid West region.
Work is also underway with UL as part of a major initiative to provide more educational pathways for skills development.
Today’s official launch also included the announcement of Format Factory, a brand-new dedicated incubator for developing and piloting original television format IP which will be based at the global production hub in Troy.
This will enable producers to test, refine, and scale new concepts for unscripted formats.
Already this year, BiggerStage has produced several large-scale productions at the global production hub including 99 To Beat with Ken Jeong and Erin Andrews, The Floor with Rob Lowe, and Name That Tune with Jane Krakowski for the FOX Network in the US.
The UK version of Name That Tune with Alison Hammond in partnership with ITV Studios for ITV1 is also due to be recorded at the global Limerick hub soon.
Minister Patrick O’Donovan said that “the launch of the BiggerStage global production hub at Troy Studios will not only attract major international players to Limerick, it illustrates how Ireland has the infrastructure, talent, creativity, and production expertise to lead in this space. Ireland’s creative industry is on a real high, there has never been a better time to expand our global offering and drive more investment into the development of creative IP, jobs, training, development, and infrastructure.”