Peaky Blinders creator opens film studios in Digbeth

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is to open a major film and television studio complex in Digbeth, in a project expected to create 760 jobs and bring big-budget productions to Birmingham.

Digbeth Loc. Studios was announced on 21 March, with construction starting the same day. The studios are due to be ready by mid-July, with the first filming on site planned for October.

Victorian buildings reborn

Disused Victorian buildings will be converted into a modern studio complex with three film studios, production offices and construction workshops, covering 80,000 square feet in the city's creative quarter. The site is in the Warwick Bar conservation area beside the canal, about seven minutes' walk from the city's stations, including the planned HS2 terminus.

The studios are being run by a partnership between Knight and Piers Read, chief executive of the company Time+Space and a former managing director of the Custard Factory.

Productions signed up

Several productions have already committed to the studios, including This Town, a new BBC drama by Knight about the region's ska and two-tone music scene, and MasterChef, which is moving to Birmingham. Part of the site is also expected to be used by the Birmingham reggae band UB40.

"Planting an industry"

"Our plans are ambitious and we will be making TV and movies on an international scale," Knight said. "We are planting an industry in the fertile soil of Birmingham and we need local people to make it happen."

"We're setting up in the heart of, what was once, Peaky Blinders country and it's very fitting that we are bringing it all back home."

Council investment

The city council is investing £1.3 million of City Deal funding in the project, working with landowner Homes England. The studios are expected to contribute more than £30 million to the local economy.

Council leader Ian Ward said the creative industries were fundamental to Birmingham's "golden decade" following the Commonwealth Games. "Birmingham's cultural star continues to rise, and we are proud to support Steven Knight as he leads the way in bringing world-class television and film production to the city," he said.

The Peaky effect

Since it first appeared on screens in 2013, Peaky Blinders has been credited with a 26 per cent rise in domestic visitors to Birmingham and a 19 per cent rise in international tourists. It has also inspired a festival, a dance theatre tour, an immersive show and even its own beer.

The BBC's chief content officer, Charlotte Moore, said it was an exciting time for film and programme makers in the region, with the corporation's Birmingham headquarters moving to the Tea Factory in Digbeth, MasterChef moving into the old Banana Warehouse, and the new studios opening.

Lenny Henry and Meera Syal were among the Birmingham-raised stars to welcome the news. "The idea of a world beating studio based in Birmingham with the strong intent to create Brum based stories, mythologies and narratives is very close to my heart," Henry said.