A £13.5m facility at Bristol's Bottle Yard film and television studios has officially opened, with the announcement of the first series to be made there.
Top producers, local crew and media companies attended an event at the studios - which has hosted BBC productions such as Poldark and Stephen Merchant’s The Outlaws - to mark its expansion at an industrial site in the south of the city.
The state-of-the-art space, called TBY2, has been heralded as a huge boost to the South West’s creative sector, and is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
At the opening it was revealed that its first booking was for an upcoming eight-part series called Rivals, based on the bestselling novel by Jilly Cooper, produced for Disney+ by Happy Prince, part of ITV Studios.
TBY2 - backed by a £12m investment from the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) - has three sound stages - measuring 20,000 sq ft, 16,500 sq ft and 7,000 sq ft each.
It also houses more than 40,000 sq ft of ancillary space, including serviced production offices, prop stores, construction workshops, costume and makeup, and break-out areas.
The facility is powered by an array of giant solar panels on its rooftop, which the studios have said is one of the biggest of its kind in the UK.
Recent figures from Bristol Film Office revealed film and television production generated more than £20m for the local economy in the last financial year, the largest contribution that filming-related activity has made in a decade.
Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees described the Bottle Yard studios - owned and run by Bristol City Council - as the city’s “Hollywood in Hengrove”.
Mr Rees added: “New productions by Disney+ and other major streamers and commissioners will only bolster our global growth. Shows like The Outlaws have looked and sounded like Bristol and TBY2 will help us punch above our weight in film and TV.
“I’m proud to have secured the funding for this state-of-the-art expansion during my first term as Mayor, delivering another 1,000 new jobs for Bristolians. Thanks to City Leap and the community-owned solar panels on TBY2’s roof, this will surely be one of the greenest places to film anywhere in the world.”
Laura Aviles, senior film manager at Bristol City Council said the studios had appointed its first outreach coordinator, who will liaise between productions filming in Bristol and local schools, colleges and universities, to strengthen the city’s film and TV production workforce.
Ms Aviles said: “We’re making sure Bristol seizes the opportunities presented by the UK production boom with both hands, so that local crew, companies and talent benefit from the employment, business and skills development it brings.”
Dan Norris, Metro Mayor of the West of England, added: “Today’s official opening sends a strong message nationally and internationally that our amazing West of England is open for business. So please come here and invest.
"I look forward to watching as more films and TV hit the screens that were made in our amazing West of England region."
In September, Sid Gentle Films - the production company behind major television hits including Killing Eve - opened a new development and production arm, Sid Wild, based at The Bottle Yard. The company joins a creative hub of more than 20 specialist industry companies based at the studios.
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