Ireland’s bustling film and TV industry is getting a new studio complex, which when complete is set to be the country’s largest, encompassing more than 670,000 square feet of studio space on 44 acres, including 14 soundstages.
Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital alongside its affiliate The MSB Group — which already run the world’s biggest studio and media portfolio with more than 360 soundstages across four countries — is behind the Greystones Media Campus, set to be developed in the coastal town of Greystones in County Wicklow, roughly 15 miles south of Dublin. The two-phased development — with a total investment estimated at Euros300 ($250 million) — is a joint venture with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), Ireland’s sovereign development fund and Capwell, a Sisk family investment vehicle.
The move marks the latest significant investment across the Atlantic by the growing studios group, which was behind the acquisition of Ireland’s Ardmore Studios and Troy Studios in August 2021. Recent films shot in Ireland include The Green Knight, The Last Duel and The Northman. Hackman also won the hotly contested bid in 2020 for a 20-acre site in East London, which is now to be called Eastbrook Studios.
“We are grateful to ISIF and Capwell for this exciting opportunity, and we’re thrilled to be expanding our footprint in Ireland,” said Michael Hackman, Founder and CEO of Hackman Capital Partners. “We see Ireland as a premier destination for content creators across the globe, and we’re committed to seeing it grow exponentially. There is enormous talent here, not to mention a stunning landscape and some of the industry’s best financial incentives for filmmakers.”
The audio-visual sector is currently worth more than Euro 1 billion ($834 million) to the Irish economy, with approximately 12,000 people employed in film, television and animation production. The new development in Greystones is being touted as a major boost for the Irish creative economic sector and will contribute to the creation of 1,500 new jobs once it is operational (and 450 jobs during the construction phase).
“The demand for modern, well-run studio facilities in Ireland is very strong and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future,” said Square Mile Capital CEO Craig Solomon. “This opportunity to help meet that demand, and deliver a superior level of operating support to the creative companies that will use the facilities, is very attractive to us. Overall, the world’s appetite for high-quality film and TV content shows no sign of slowing and we believe that the Greystones Media Campus has great potential.”
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