The UK government's strategy to develop Northern Ireland's creative industries calls for the construction of a new film lab in Belfast worth £75 million.
At Belfast Harbour Studios, a research lab for cutting-edge screen and performance technology will be established.
The Creative Industries Sector Vision plan of the UK government seeks a £50 billion expansion of the sector.
By 2030, it's anticipated that the industry will support a million more jobs.
The movie lab will concentrate on real-time content creation methods, using computer-generated imagery (CGI), augmented reality, and motion capture to build virtual sets and worlds. UKRI.
It is one of four new labs in the UK with a focus on virtual production in the future. .
Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) is a program run by the government's UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) division that includes the labs.
The network of virtual production research and development labs that these will create together will be the biggest in Europe.
A Ulster University consortium was in charge of the confirmed bidders in Belfast.
Prof. Declan Keeney of Ulster University stated that the new construction is proof of the investment Belfast Harbour Studios has already made.
The leveling up of the film industries in Northern Ireland, he said, was the goal.
"It creates a special combination of technologies under one roof here at the harbor, enabling us to do things that we previously couldn't do on this island but definitely within the UK. ".
The same technology used in Disney's The Mandalorian is present in one of the rooms—a virtual production LED volume stage.
According to Prof. Keeney, technology now enables residents of Belfast to create any environment "anywhere in the universe.".
"We can now make Morocco during magic hour, and we can shoot here in the harbor for a full 12-hour day.".
"As you can imagine, this opens the door for new, previously impractical projects in Northern Ireland. ".
According to the UK government, since 2018, screen productions in Northern Ireland have directly boosted the local economy by more than £330 million.
Additionally, the government claimed that by bringing thousands of tourists to the area, it helped the tourism industry.
It is anticipated that the new lab in Belfast will add 500 new jobs.
According to Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker, the creative industries have generated over £1 billion for the region's economy, thousands of jobs, and "attracted renowned companies like Universal Pictures, Disney, and BBC.".
I'm incredibly excited about the news of this new cutting-edge lab and the new opportunities it will open up for Northern Ireland's thriving TV and film industry, he continued. "Having previously visited Studio Ulster and witnessed firsthand its innovative work, I'm hugely excited at the announcement of this new cutting-edge lab.".
The facility will combine the knowledge of Northern Ireland Screen, Belfast Harbour, BBC Northern Ireland, and specialized animation studio Humain.
Both £63 million in new industry investment and £75 point 6 million in government funding go toward the program.
According to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, the plans will position Belfast at the cutting edge of cutting-edge technology that will support the next generation of filming and live events.
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