Dragon International Film Studios

The Dragon International Film Studios, also known as Valleywood, is a complex of film and television studios currently being constructed at Llanilid in Wales, United Kingdom about 14 miles (23 kilometres) from the Welsh capital, Cardiff. The project is being developed by the consortium Dragon International Studios, chaired by Richard Attenborough.^[1]

The studios have an estimated budget of £330m, which along with private investment, has received taxpayers' funding from the Welsh Assembly and European Union.^[2] It aims to attract film production through the lower costs of working in Wales compared to London. It also hopes to exploit the profile of Welsh actors in Hollywood, such as Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ioan Gruffudd and Michael Sheen.

The completed complex will have 12 sound stages, and will also include a new road junction to provide access from the M4 motorway.

The studios are also being developed in conjunction with Screen Academy Wales, an educational venture by The Film Academy at University of Glamorgan and International Film School Wales at University of Wales, Newport.^[3][4]

The project has been nicknamed "Valleywood" as an homage to Hollywood, in the manner of other Hollywood-inspired names such as Tollywood, Dollywood or Bollywood.

Six years after the project was first proposed and nearly four years after planning permission was granted, construction work started on the first phase of the scheme in August 2007.^[5] In March 2008, due to a dispute with a creditor, Administrators were called in to resolve the financial situation, with liabilities of £15 million.^[6]

Filming for the first film, Ironclad, started in October 2009, starring Paul Giamatti focusing on the great siege of Rochester Castle when, following the signing of the Magna Carta, King John gathered an army to reclaim his power and exert bloody revenge on those who defied him.^[7]

The television series Doctor Who utilised the studios in September 2010 in order to film sequences within the TARDIS corridors for the fourth episode of the sixth series, The Doctor's Wife. ^[8]

In March 2011, administrators revealed that the site may have to be sold if the studios could not attract more film projects.^[9]

Housing development

There are proposals are for land next to the Valleywood film studio complex to be developed for 2,000 homes, a primary school, health centre, library, recreation facilities and neighbourhood shops.^[10][11]

References

1. ^ Film studios complex plans released
2. ^ Valleywood work to start
3. ^ Building work at the so-called "Valleywood" film studios near Bridgend has begun
4. ^ Director promises 'Valleywood' jobs
5. ^ 'Valleywood' building work begins
6. ^ "Valleywood studios worries mount". BBC News. 18 March 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7301880.stm. 
7. ^ http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/cardiff-news/2009/10/24/medieval-battle-scenes-in-the-valleywood-mud-91466-25002618/
8. ^ The Doctor Who Companion: The Eleventh Doctor Volume Three, Panini, 2011
9. ^ "Valleywood film studios faces possible sell-off". BBC News (BBC). 3 March 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-12632138. Retrieved 4 March 2011. 
10. ^ BBC News | Housing plan on ex-opencast mine site unveiled
11. ^ BBC News | Super-school plan for 'Valleywood' site at Llanilid

External links

• BBC News - "Valleywood studios worries mount" (18 March 2008)
• BBC News - "Delays hit Valleywood film start" (28 January 2006)