Government 'determined' to support studios plan
4D Studio ArchitectsThe government is "determined" to support the development of a film studio after a major investor pulled out, a senior Labour minister has pledged.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy told MPs her department was working alongside local leaders as they searched for new funding for the Crown Works Studios project in Sunderland.
It emerged on Monday that investment firm Cain International, which led the plans in a joint venture with Fulwell Entertainment, had withdrawn from the £450m vision to build a production complex on the banks of the River Wear in Pallion.
Sunderland City Council and the North East Combined Authority (Neca) say they "remain confident" of securing investment.
Sunderland Central MP Lewis Atkinson asked Nandy on Thursday how the government's new creative industries strategy, which specifically highlights the "game-changing plans for film production" in the city, would ensure the development was delivered.
Speaking in the House of Commons, she replied that Crown Works would bring "great jobs and growth to the North East of England and help our amazing film industry thrive".
Nandy said: "Anyone who has ever visited Sunderland will know why the film industry is based there and why it is thriving there, and we are determined to support that.
"We are working with Sunderland City Council and the North East Mayoral Combined Authority. They are really confident that a private investor will be secured to support Crown Works film studios."
Although it has not directly invested in the scheme, the government has provided £25m to Neca as part of a devolution deal for early development of the site.
Local authorities, meanwhile, have committed to a total public investment of up to £120m.
Sunderland City Council leader Michael Mordey said on Monday he expected to have new funding in place by the time remediation works were finished later this year, ready to begin the first phase of building.
Full planning permission has already been granted for initial construction that would include four sound stages, though the wider vision was for 19.
When asked about Crown Works in April, Ms Nandy told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the government was "working very closely to make sure that moves at pace and that, [with] the investment we have put in, people start to see results very quickly".
Fulwell Entertainment, which made the Sunderland 'Til I Die Netflix series, said it remained "committed to working with the council to find appropriate private funding".