Latest news with #CrownWorks
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Sunderland Crown Works film studios plan backed by government
The government is "determined" to support the development of a film studio after a major investor pulled out, a senior Labour minister has secretary Lisa Nandy told MPs her department was working alongside local leaders as they searched for new funding for the Crown Works Studios project in emerged on Monday that investment firm Cain International, which led the plans in a joint venture with Fulwell Entertainment, had withdrawn from the £450m vision to build a production complex on the banks of the River Wear in City Council and the North East Combined Authority (Neca) say they "remain confident" of securing investment. Sunderland Central MP Lewis Atkinson asked Nandy on Thursday how the government's new creative industries strategy, which specifically highlights the "game-changing plans for film production" in the city, would ensure the development was in the House of Commons, she replied that Crown Works would bring "great jobs and growth to the North East of England and help our amazing film industry thrive".Nandy said: "Anyone who has ever visited Sunderland will know why the film industry is based there and why it is thriving there, and we are determined to support that."We are working with Sunderland City Council and the North East Mayoral Combined Authority. They are really confident that a private investor will be secured to support Crown Works film studios."Although it has not directly invested in the scheme, the government has provided £25m to Neca as part of a devolution deal for early development of the authorities, meanwhile, have committed to a total public investment of up to £ City Council leader Michael Mordey said on Monday he expected to have new funding in place by the time remediation works were finished later this year, ready to begin the first phase of planning permission has already been granted for initial construction that would include four sound stages, though the wider vision was for asked about Crown Works in April, Ms Nandy told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the government was "working very closely to make sure that moves at pace and that, [with] the investment we have put in, people start to see results very quickly".Fulwell Entertainment, which made the Sunderland 'Til I Die Netflix series, said it remained "committed to working with the council to find appropriate private funding". Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Sunderland Crown Works Studios funding setback 'not end of project '
Building work will "continue as normal" on a multimillion-pound film and TV studio despite a key investor backing out, a mayor has estate firm Cain International said it had withdrawn from the Crown Works Studios project in Sunderland but declined to go into more North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: "Work is already under way and we're committed to delivering Crown Works, but we know that we can find new investors." Work on the site began earlier this year, with the government providing £25m through devolution funding, and Sunderland City Council and the North East Combined Authority (NECA) committing to about £120m. The development, on the former shipyard site in Pallion, next to the Northern Spire Bridge, is expected to create thousands of jobs. Funding for the rest of the scheme was expected to come from a joint venture between Fulwell Entertainment and Cain, which had intended on building 19 sound stages at the riverside site. Alison Gwynn, head of North East Screen, said: "We know we have support from central and regional government, one investor may be out but this is a chance to find the right investor."The organisation said there had been a 131% increase in the number of productions filmed in the region over the past three years and it was "confident" the site would be up and running by 2027. "This isn't all doom and gloom, the groundworks are happening right now, construction is due to start in January - this is going to happen, we are really confident," Ms Gwynn said. Phase one of the project would see four sound stages built on the site, with an aim of getting more built in further phases if the studio "proved" to be commercially viable. 'Grit and determination' Fulwell Entertainment, which is behind the Netflix football documentary Sunderland 'Til I Die, said it "remains committed to working with the council to find appropriate private funding, complementing the combined North East authority and wider government funding needed to make these world-class production studios a reality".Labour-led Sunderland City Council said the proposals were "being presented to the investment market, with the aim to put in place a final funder and developer later this year".Rob Lawson, chair of Sunderland Business Partnership, a collective of the region's businesses and organisations, said it was important to support the efforts of the council as it searched for new investment."Sunderland is a city of grit and determination – a place that digs in and delivers through adversity," he added. Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
