A new studio for Scotland?

According to reports, the submission has been made by Pentland Studios Limited and is referred to in planning documents as the ‘Scottish Film Studios’.

A public consultation event is due to be held in October when no doubt a lot more details will be revealed. It seems to hinge rather on local development plans to realign major road the A701 to run through greenbelt land, which would open up the area to developers.

If the plans are approved, it would be a positive response to a massive groundswell of opinion that Scotland has been left behind in terms of film and TV studio builds.

With Wales getting its very own Pinewood towards the end of the year, Warner Bros. Leavesden and Titanic Belfast expanding their footprints considerably and many other regional studios bulging at the seams, it certainly seems to be Scotland’s turn to get a sizeable, state-of-the-art studio.

For example, Outlander, which is coming to the end of a year-long shoot and backed by US network Starz, had to convert an old warehouse in Cumbernauld.

And back in March, a report commissioned by Scottish Enterprise came out firmly in favour of Scotland having its own film studio, actively encouraging private sector proposals and aiming to respond to the “surge of interest” in film production, in no small part due to the attractive tax relief.