Work has begun on Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s Birmingham television and film studio.
Digbeth Rock. The studio will be completed in July and filming will begin in October, including Knight’s upcoming BBC television series, Two Voices.
The 80,000-square-foot Digbeth Loc. studio will create 760 new jobs and contribute £30 million ($36.6 million) to the local economy, according to its founders, as it regenerates the Digbeth area in the West Midlands.
Knight, who is at the helm of both the BBC and FX’s upcoming adaptation of The Expanse, has a vision to create a long-term cultural heritage for Birmingham, and he came up with the idea for Digbeth Loc. with business partner Piers Read, CEO of TIME+SPACE.
Knight is also involved with Birmingham Create Central, a group of producers and creators who support local talent.
Birmingham City Council, in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority and Homes for England, has invested £1.3 million ($1.6 million) in the studios.
“Our plans are ambitious and we will be producing television and film on an international scale,” said Knight.
“We’re growing an industry on the fertile soil of Birmingham, and we need local people to make it happen. We have the right structure in place to start a business that trains local people in the skills they need, and we want people to know that this is a viable industry that will continue to exist.”
Knight added that it was “appropriate” to bring the studio to the city where “Bloodsport Gangster” was filmed.
Digbeth Rock. will see the old abandoned Victorian building transformed into a modern, state-of-the-art studio complex that includes three film studios, production offices and construction workshops.
