Building work begins on highly anticipated film and TV studio from Peaky Blinders creator

Everyone involved with Screen and Film School Birmingham is fizzing with excitement at the prospect of building work finally beginning on Steven Knight’s Loc Studios, a huge new development for Digbeth and located just streets away from the Film School.

Plans and whispers about the potential build getting underway have been floating around for a long time and with an upcoming Peaky Blinders film now firmly in the pipeline, work has finally started on the studio. Crucially for our students, the project is predicted to create at least 700 new jobs in the area. 

Situated on Fazeley Street, Loc Studios already has a roster of productions that will take place there in the near future. Knight himself has said: “I wish I could announce the things that are coming, because there’s a pipeline of productions… that are quite mind-blowing.” We have previously shared the news that Masterchef will relocate there from London and it’s only a matter of time before a call goes out for flat caps and sharp suits in anticipation of the clapper board snapping for the first time on the Peaky film.  

The development is in keeping with our very own Film School, sitting at the heart of the exciting regeneration of Digbeth. Warehouses will be transformed into state-of-the-art studio spaces and the building is expected to be completed in July, with the first cameras set to start rolling in October for filming. Knight has teased the idea of “760 jobs for people who can walk to work,” adding that “There’s always been the opportunity for location shooting here but what’s been lacking is big interior studio space. It makes absolute business sense to not have to ship people in from London and Manchester and put them up overnight.” 

Championing local talent in the world of film and TV isn’t the only thing that Loc will offer: music production will be covered too, with studio space to be taken up by legendary Birmingham band UB40. 

Lucy Carey, our Applicant Experience Manager at Screen and Film School Birmingham and a born and bred Brummie, had this to say about the incredible project: 

“It’s really exciting to have Loc Studios just around the corner from the Film School. The whole city is absolutely buzzing and it is quickly becoming the place to be for a filmmaker. Recently, some of the roads around Digbeth have been closed and filled with filming trucks, right on our doorstep. It’s a great opportunity for our students, they have already been round asking for runner jobs. It’s the perfect place to get your first opportunity in the film and television industry.” 

 

---