It's time for "action" as new Irish state-of-the-art film studio get's the green light

South Dublin County Council has granted a ten-year planning permission to Lens Media Ltd for the 56-acre site which includes 20 individual structures over 74,000 square meters of floor space.

This translates to the development being made up of six sound stage buildings that comprise 11 internal sound stages, along with ancillary offices at Grange Castle Business Park, in Nangor, County Dublin, and will directly support around 2,800 jobs and more than 2,100 indirectly as well.

As per a report by planning consultants Tom Phillips + Associates (which was lodged with the application) stated that Dublin Fields "will have all the elements that will lure top productions from around the world" and that it "will be a world-class studio".

This seems like a big task to undertake and the council has underlined the scale of the proposal by requiring the applicants to pay €8.85 million towards public infrastructure and facilities benefiting development within the council area.

This financial requirement is just one of 25 conditions the council has attached to the permission at the end of the 106-page planning report.

A spokeswoman for Lens Media said: "This planned facility will be unique on the island of Ireland in terms of its scale, spec and location, and among the premier film, TV and entertainment production facilities in Europe."

The spokeswoman added that the studios "will more than double the current sound stage offering in Ireland, acting as a catalyst for the indigenous screen industry and catering for growing, unmet production needs".

They continued: "We would like to acknowledge the support from South Dublin County Council over the last number of years. From the outset, they recognized the positive impact this project will have - on the surrounding area as well as on the rest of the country - and they have worked with us in a collaborative way to get to this positive decision today."

Those behind the Lens Media Ltd group are some familiar names in the film industry as well as large-scale property developers.

Irish producer Alan Moloney is probably best known for his work on the Saoirse Ronan film "Brooklyn", but more recently created Big Things Films with Cillian Murphy and the first production under that banner was the 2024 film "Small Things Like These".

In 2025, the Netflix film Steve, also starring Murphy, will be the second film under the Big Things Films banner.

Other names attached to Lens Media Ltd include the Oscar-nominated producer Gary Levinsohn, who worked on Saving Private Ryan, New York-based physician David Cooper, film-maker Matt Cooper and Irish-born Christopher Carlin.

* This article was originally published on GeekIreland.com.