Peaky Blinders creator launches new film studio in Digbeth
Construction on Digbeth Loc. Studios starts today (Tuesday)
Birmingham will be home to a new multimillion-pound TV and film complex, founded by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and the CEO of Time and Space - Piers Read.
Digbeth Loc. Studios are designed to put the city on the media map, create over 700 jobs and add £30m to the local economy.
Construction on the site starts today, with their first filming onsite taking place in October.
The £1.3m investment by Birmingham City Council, together with landowner Homes England and with support from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), aims to mobilise the region’s £4bn Creative Economy, offering a flagship focal point to draw and inspire both local and international screen-industries talent.
A range of internationally lauded productions are already committed to partnering with Digbeth Loc. Studios. These include the BBC drama This Town telling the story of the West Midlands’ ground-breaking ska and two-tone heritage – and the world’s most successful food format, MasterChef, produced by Shine TV, also part of Banijay UK.
An area of the new studios is also expected to be occupied by legendary Birmingham reggae band UB40, making it a wide-ranging, multimedia West Midlands home for upcoming and existing creative and cultural talent.
Knight’s project follows the huge international success of Peaky Blinders, which has put Birmingham and the wider West Midlands on the global cultural map.
Steven Knight CBE, said: “It’s so exciting that this day has come and after a lot of hard work by lots of people at Homes England, Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority.
“Our plans are ambitious and we will be making TV and movies on an international scale.
“We are planting an industry in the fertile soil of Birmingham and we need local people to make it happen. We have structures in place to begin the business of training local people in the skills needed and we want people to know that this is a viable industry that is here to stay.
“We’re setting up in the heart of, what was once, Peaky Blinders country and it’s very fitting that we are bringing it all back home.”
The landmark development will see disused, old Victorian era buildings converted into a modern, state-of-the-art studio complex, comprising three film studios, production offices and construction workshops; spanning 80,000 sq.ft of regenerated space in Birmingham’s Creative Quarter, Digbeth.
Located within seven-minutes walking distance of Birmingham’s train stations – including the planned HS2 terminal – the site sits within the Warwick Bar Conservation Area and will conserve the unique characteristics and heritage of Birmingham’s canalside buildings.