The Welsh government has sold Cardiff-based studio space Seren Studios to media infrastructure company Great Point Studios for £9.35m.
Great Point Media, founded in 2013 by UK-based Jim Reeve and US-based Robert Halmi, had been leasing the studio under a 10-year deal since 2020.
Halmi is also CEO and founder of New York-based offshoot Great Point Studios, that has developed Lionsgate Studios in Yonkers, New York, as well as additional studio campuses Buffalo, New York and Newark, New Jersey.
In addition to the sale of the site, the Welsh government and Cardiff Capital Region have agreed a funding package of £18m to further develop the studios and facilities. £12m debt finance has been secured through the Cardiff Capital Region £50m Strategic Premises Fund, with £6m in grant funding through Creative Wales.
This investment aims to deliver jobs and growth for the wider supply chain and region, as well as supporting production demand.
The project will deliver 257,000 ft2 of production space, with four studios and a comprehensive support infrastructure being built over two phases. The project will also support up to 750 freelance crew per year, up from the current 250 and the studio in Wales will become the headquarters for Great Point Studios.
According to BBC News, this will will make the site Wales’ largest studio space.
Seren Studios was previously known as Pinewood Studio, Wales, and has hosted Gareth Evan’s Netflix action-thriller, Havoc, starring Tom Hardy, BBC and HBO series Industry and Sky series A Discovery Of Witches.
Earlier this year, Great Point also announced the building of a major new production facility in Atlanta, Georgia.
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