Plans for multi-million-euro production studio in Tuam progress
Town would be creative hub
PLANS to develop a state-of-the-art Virtual Production Studio in Tuam could be shovel ready in nine months, but the exact location for the facility has yet to finalised.
Action Tuam revealed their ambitious plan for the new studio back in March, which is set to cost between €8-€10million to complete. The studio would help to establish the town as a national hub for creative and digital technology.
They are embarking on a €250,000 nine-month preparatory programme which they hope will deliver a fully shovel-ready project. Enterprise Ireland is funding 80 per cent of the €250,000, with Action Tuam contributing the remainder.
The funding will help with site selection, designs for the studio, commissioning the necessary studies dealing with issues such as architecture and ecology, alongside putting together the tender documents.
A virtual production studio needs to be a certain height to function properly, (around 13 meters), that will also need to be considered in any potential site. The preparatory programme will help Action Tuam decide if they can refurbish an existing building or need to develop on a greenfield site.
“This is a tremendous vote of confidence in Action Tuam having worked so hard to make this vision real,” stated Daniel Hardiman, Chairperson of Action Tuam.
“Securing the full grant from Enterprise Ireland, with the support of the Government of Ireland and the European Union, means we can now take a bold idea and make it genuinely shovel ready.”
The new-build studio will feature LED facilities, green screen, motion-tracking systems and post-production suites.
Digital technologies
It will give manufacturers, medtech and agri-tech firms, creative businesses and entrepreneurs across the West and North-West a facility to design, test, certify and adopt immersive digital technologies.
The studio forms a pillar of a wider place-based regeneration initiative developed by Action Tuam. A town centre Technology Hub and planned co-living and co-working accommodation will form an integrated learning, working and living campus for the people of Tuam.
“The project needs to be in a good location, as it must contribute to the regeneration of Tuam. As this preparatory programme is being funding by public money, we need to make sure the whole town benefits from this development,” commented a spokesperson from Action Tuam.
The preparatory programme funding was awarded under the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme and is co-funded by the Irish government and the European Union.
The Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme could also be utilised again to help fund the capital costs, which are anticipated to be between €8-€10million.
“This studio is about people first, giving our businesses a first-mover advantage in immersive technology, keeping our talented graduates in the region, and making sure rural Ireland is not left behind in the digital economy,” added the Action Tuam Chairperson.
“I want to thank Enterprise Ireland, our partners across industry, academia and local government, and the people of Tuam for getting us here. The real work starts now,” he concluded.