Dragon International Film Studios
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The Dragon International Film Studios is a complex of film and television studios currently being constructed at Llanilid between Cardiff and Bridgend in South Wales. 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 and Ioan Gruffudd.
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.[6]
