Troy Studios eyes major growth after ‘Nightflyers’ success

By David Raleigh

Troy Studios in Limerick has announced plans to bag further television or film productions from several of the world’s major content streaming companies, according to its CEO, Siún Ní Raghallaigh.

It is seeking tenders to expand its soundstage space from 70,000sq ft to 100,000sq ft, which will position Troy as “the largest international standard film and TV studio in Ireland” and one of the biggest in Europe.

The big-budget US sci-fi hit television series Nightflyers, produced by NBC Universal and aired on Netflix, recently completed a nine-month stay at Troy, resulting in 320 direct jobs and a €53m boost to the local economy.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh confirmed that Troy’s representatives are “regularly meeting with all the major studio streamers such as Netflix, Amazon, and Apple TV” to generate further productions in Limerick. Already, Troy, which has a 350,000sq ft creative hub in Castletroy, has received €6.5m in private investment to deliver on its first major contract with NBC Universal.

The investment for the proposed expansion is “commercially sensitive”, said Ms Ní Raghallaigh, but described it as “a considerable investment, and what we’re going to get from that is doubling the potential for inward investment in productions, and a doubling of jobs potential”.

According to Ms Ní Raghallaigh, the expansion of its soundstage facilities will allow Troy to sit down with “the biggest of big guns” in the industry.

Having a 100,000sq ft stage screen space is a very significant place to be in this market. We would be in a position to have two Nightflyers-type projects running on at the same time, or a larger project running,” she said. 

Now that we have more space coming on stream, the conversation has got more interesting.”

Ms Ní Raghallaigh said TV productions are at the heart of this expansion.

“There is a demand for that type of immediate satisfaction (from the audience) to see the whole series in one go. The days of (TV) scheduling are gone, and broadcasters are scrambling to compete with us as well now.”

Ms Ní Raghallaigh said having another major production like Nightflyers, in a newly expanded Troy, would likely generate a €100m boost to the local economy, and a further 640 direct jobs.

“The investment that came in from Nightflyers was in the region of €50m for the area, and again, you can do the maths, if you double the production base, you are going to double that annually, that incoming foreign direct investment.”