Opening of NI's largest virtual studio makes filming 'the impossible possible'

Northern Ireland's largest film and TV virtual production studio is set to be formally opened on Thursday.

Called Studio Ulster, it is a partnership between Belfast Harbour, Ulster University and NI Screen.

By providing cutting-edge virtual production, including computer-generated imagery (CGI), it is hoped the new studio will attract more large-scale film and TV productions.

The live-action blockbuster How to Train Your Dragon, starring Gerard Butler, was recently filmed in Northern Ireland.

Previously productions, such as Netflix's The School for Good and Evil, starring Charlize Theron and Laurence Fishburne, were filmed at Belfast Harbour Studios.

Much of HBO's worldwide hit Game of Thrones was also filmed in Belfast and other locations across Northern Ireland.

Studio Ulster is a large-scale facility with more than 75,000 square feet of studio space.

It has been built alongside the existing Belfast Harbour Studios in Giant's Park on the north shore of Belfast Lough.

About a third of the funding for the £72m project comes from the Belfast Region City Deal.

The production facilities can also be used for gaming and animation.

Prof Declan Keeney from Ulster University is leading the university's team running the studio.

He previously said it would allow people to create any environment "anywhere in the universe" whilst filming in Belfast.

"We can now create Morocco in magic hour and we're able to film in that for 12 hours, right here in the harbour," he said when the details of the project were unveiled in 2023.

"You can imagine that makes possible new projects in Northern Ireland that previously were impossible."

One of the first productions set to use Studio Ulster is a BBC Northern Ireland series, made by Belfast's Stellify Media, detailing the sinking of the Titanic.

It will use the studio's virtual and digital production facilities to tell the story of the sinking of the Titanic in real time using the accounts of passengers and crew.

According to NI Screen's most recent business plan for 2024-25, Studio Ulster is expected to attract large-scale productions including TV drama and feature documentaries.

It is also expected to be a "virtual production centre of excellence", which will help to increase the skills of the film and TV industry workforce in Northern Ireland, and students studying film, broadcast and production courses.