Film Campus Will ‘Transform’ Greystones

The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

e are, of course, excited and delighted about that long-vacant IDA land down by Shoreline finally finding its feet and its purpose.

And there’s little doubt that, given the growth of Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and beyond, there could be a market out there for a new Irish film studio.

A 50/50 joint venture between construction group John Sisk & Son Ltd and State agency ISIF (working under the umbrella of the National Treasury Management Agency), Greystones Media Campus (GMC) Ltd are planning a ‘state-of-the-art’ film studio and campus on the 50-acre site sitting pretty just between the Woodlands and Shoreline.

In a gushing Irish Times piece today, it was pointed out that Ardmore Studios and Ashford Studios have been doing rather nicely in recent times, thanks to the likes of Vikings, Penny Dreadful and The Tudors, and that the boom in streaming services had the people behind GMC stating in their application letter that there is ‘an acute global shortage of studio space to meet this growing demand’.

And that’s where Greystones Media Campus Ltd comes to the rescue, their spanking new studios more than doubling the stage capacity in Ireland, creating, they say, more than 1,500 jobs (up from 1,200 in GMC’s own December press release) and – yay! – generating an economic impact with a gross value of €1.54b for the region.

Which would be nice.

Such numbers may also explain why the GMC promoters say their 73,511 sq metres of film studio across 15 buildings (up from 14 in GMC’s own press December press release) “has the potential to be transformative in the manner in which the Guggenheim was transformative for Bilbao“.

Be. The. Zangoloteo.

Might be worth pointing out right about now that, when the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim museum landed in the Basque city 23 years ago, Bilbao was a struggling industrial town. And over the ensuing years, it has become a thriving metropolis.

Which must be nice.

Just not sure Greystones is struggling. Or industrial. Or that we’re quite ready or willing to become a metropolis. Despite Cairn Homes best efforts.

Still, hooray for Tinseltown, and hurrah for local jobs, and here’s to an even bigger demand for new coffee shops.

Here’s just hoping that we all get the Hollywood ending that’s being promised here.