Planners have given the go-ahead for proposed “Dublin Fields” movie studios for a site in south Dublin that may create as many as 2,800 jobs on and off site when operational.
South Dublin County Council awarded a 10-year planning permission to Lens Media Ltd for the 56-acre site which includes 20 individual structures amounting to over 74,000sq m of gross floor space. The development includes six buildings that comprise 11 internal sound stages along with ancillary offices at Grange Castle Business Park, Co Dublin.
A planning report by consultants Tom Phillips+ Associates lodged with the application stated that Dublin Fields “will have all the elements that will lure top productions from around the world”.
The planning report stated that the project “will be a world class studio” and occupy the top tier of movie studios globally alongside Pinewood in London and Trilith in the US.
Underlining the scale of the proposal, the council is requiring the applicants to pay €8.85 million to towards public infrastructure and facilities benefiting development within the council area. The payment is one of 25 conditions the council has attached to the planning permission at the end of a 106-page planning report.
A spokeswoman for Lens Media said the studios “will more than double the current soundstage offering in Ireland, acting as a catalyst for the indigenous screen industry and catering for growing, unmet production needs. Once fully operational it will directly support in the region of 2,800 jobs and over 2,100 indirectly.
Welcoming the grant of permission, the spokeswoman said: “We would like to acknowledge the support from South Dublin County Council over the last number of years. From the outset they recognised the positive impact this project will have – on the surrounding area as well as on the rest of the country – and they have worked with us in a collaborative way to get to this positive decision today.”
In their report, Tom Phillips + Associates stated: “We believe this will be the largest stage in the European Union, and a unifying step in making Ireland a new hub for the movie and TV industry.”
Lens Media Ltd is made up of film industry and large-scale real estate development professionals: Irish producer Alan Moloney, known for Siege of Jadotville and Brooklyn, and Oscar-nominated American producer Gary Levinsohn of Saving Private Ryan.
Mr Moloney founded ‘Big Things Films’ with Cillian Murphy in 2022 and produced ‘Small Things Like These’. The firm is currently in post production for ‘Steve’, a movie for Netflix with Cillian Murphy in the lead role.
The other partners in the venture include David Cooper M.D who is a New York-based physician, accomplished film-maker Matt Cooper and Irish- born and LA-based Christopher Carlin.
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