Film Birmingham‘s Susie Norton is pushing for a film studio to be established in the city, according to an article in the Post:
We believe a Birmingham studio would help to boost the level of investment by film crews in the city. If we want production teams to come to Birmingham in the numbers that they do to other major cities, such as Manchester, then we need a studio.
What struck me about this was the realisation that Birmingham doesn’t have a purpose built film / TV studio, which seems rather odd, so in theory this is a great idea, especially as there’s plenty of aircraft-hanger sized warehouses in Digbeth which would fit the bill. That is, of course, assuming there’s an actual need for one. Susie obviously thinks there is and she’s in a position of knowledge on this but Jon Bounds has questions.
The article comes on the back of Film Birmingham’s quarterly report, a mercifully brief but packed document which, again, tells of an increase in film and TV companies looking to work in Birmingham bringing £3.8 million into the city in the last three months.