Austin Studios

In the city of Austin there was a disused airport with large hangers.  Some years ago someone hit on the idea of turning it into Austin Studios with the hangers becoming film and recording studios.  It has been a great success and the film True Grit was made there in 2010.  I had the opportunity to visit the studios to see how they have transformed the hangers into studios and other buildings into offices.  A number of companies are now located there and they are very much complementary to each other.

We watched a recording of Texas singer Carolyn Wonderland and the producer was Mike Nesmith, whom some of you will remember from the Monkies.

We have a similar opportunity at the Paint Hall in Titanic Quarter.  At one time this vast space was used to paint vessels but now it is used for film production.

In Northern Ireland we have a vibrant creative industries sector, which includes film production, and we can learn the lessons from other cities and countries as we work to make Northern Ireland a hub for this sector.