British film studio 'Valleywood' facing an uncertain future

Valleywood, the informal shorthand for the Richard Attenborough-chaired Dragon International Film Studios, is facing financial uncertainty in light of debts to creditors and a lack of productions coming to the Welsh movie studio. The £330 million complex boasts 4 silent stages, an office building and a replica of a Norman Castle.

The castle was recently put to good use in the filming of the James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti starrer Ironclad (released today) which, so far, is the only feature film to make use of the studio. Future plans for the site include a grand total of 14 sound stages and a housing development of 2,000 homes.

It had originally been hoped that the lower costs associated with filming in Wales would tempt filmmakers from London, but this has not yet proved to be the case. This could be partly to do with the fact that administrators Price Waterhouse Coopers have been in fiscal control of the studio since 2008, with the studio owing £15 million to creditors right on the upsurge of the economic crisis. The adminstrators admit that this has held the studio complex back from being able to expand and entice film projects and could see the complex sold off for re-development.