14 WINTER IS COMING TO NORTHERN IRELAND
March 2022 Travel News
WINTERFELL MAKES PERMANENT RESIDENCE WITHIN THE REAL KINGDOM OF THE NORTH
Catch up with the cast and crew of the famous Game of Thrones Series
Cara Thompson caught up with cast and crew of Game of Thrones on her recent visit to the newly opened Linen Mill Studio Tour
sight.Sir Meryn Trent (Northern Irish actor Ian Beattie) spent some time with Cara discussing all things travel.
Where is your favourite destination your job has taken you? I’ve been very very lucky. I have filmed in Morocco, I
The new studio tour is equipped with original works “We’re incredibly excited to be opening the doors to
NI Travel News’ Cara Thompson checks out the latest Game of Thrones Tourist attraction to grace Northern Ireland’s shores. From Westros to Winterfell, this experience has it all...
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HE Game of Thrones Studio Tour opened on Friday 4th February 2022 within the Linen Mill Studio Banbridge, and is the ultimate dream for fans of the iconic Game of Thrones series as this studio tour gives you the chance to walk the sets where the actors actually walked the floors. The brand new 110,000-square-foot interactive experience will allow fans to explore a vast array of original sets, costumes, props and set pieces, with the aim of bringing visitors closer to the Seven Kingdoms than ever before. Fans can step inside the Great Hall at Winterfell where Jon Snow was proclaimed the “King in the North,” see Daenerys Targaryen’s imposing Dragonstone throne, delve into the incredible props, weaponry and visual effects of Game of Thrones and learn more about the skills and craftmanship that helped bring the show to life on screen. The immersive experience brings Westeros to life and will evoke the show’s epic scale — from King’s Landing,Winterfell, Dragonstone, The Wall and the lands beyond. Peter van Roden, Senior Vice President of Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment, said:
the first-ever Game of Thrones Studio Tour at Linen Mill Studios. Knowing you are in the very same spot where some of the series’ most memorable moments were filmed is an incredible feeling and we know fans of the franchise will feel the same when they see the rich detail in the sets, costumes and props up close and personal.” This brand new studio tour is set to turn heads as Northern ireland has received a huge tourism boom from the Game of Thrones filming locations such as the dark hedges, Titanic Studios in Belfast, Cushendun Caves, Murlough Bay, Ballintoy Harbour, Larrybane, Antrim Plateau, Castle Ward, Inch Abbey and Downhill Strand. From script to screen, you will begin your journey at the wall in the vast and frozen North making you way through from the Night’s Watch at Castle Back following the raven’s flight to Winterfell.
have filmed in Dubrovnik which was stunning. I think Dubrovnik was just about my favourite place. I have been with comic cons, I’ve been all over the world, I’ve been to Australia, I’ve been through every country in Europe, I’ve been to the United States of America. But I would say my favourite filming location was four years ago when I filmed and was able to bring the family out to Barbados, that was nice.
What would be your dream holiday? My dream holiday would be working and bringing
my family out with me. Somewhere like Australia’s Gold Coast where I did a comic con which was stunning. Also Los Angeles, I love Los Angeles and I’ve been there many times, I lived there for a couple of years. Australia and New Zealand, to get a series in Australia or New Zealand and be able to bring the family out with me. For them it would be a holiday destination. For me it would be work and absolutely joyous.
The stars of the show got together at the pre-opening
for the Game of Throne Studio Tour and were asked a series of questions surrounding the show and the new attraction; In attendance were cast members Ian McElhinney, Daniel Portman, Ian Beattie and Natalia Tena. Prosthetic producers Barry and Sarah Gower, along with Tommy Dune and Danny O’Regan were also in attendance.
All attendees were asked;
What is the best thing for you about this studio tour?
Danny O’Regan replied; “The best thing for me about this tour would be having
Ian Beattie loves NI Travel News!
the opportunity to recreate our sets. We have worked on some of the most iconic sets that we all know. And then to have the opportunity to actually build them and take more time and care of them than we would have on the show.” Ian Beatties favourite thing about the studio tour is the fact it will blow fans away; “I was involved in the game of thrones touring experience which I thought was fantastic. Everything that people will see during this studio tour, these are the outfits we used, those were the swords, those were the props. Also the fact that you get an extraordinary glimpse into the behind the scenes process of Game of Thrones. So if you’re a fan of the show or even if you’re a fan of the entertainment industry. What particularly captured me while I was walking through was once again being reminded of the incredible attention to detail that every aspect of this show presented. The outfits for example, denerises white snow costume and you look close
enough, theres a silver chain and just on top of that chain there are two miniature silver dragon heads that if you get up close enough they are absolutely stunning. Ian Beattie also talks about how this is a worldwide tourist attraction for fans of Game of Thrones;
“When Game of Thrones came to this province to
start filming here, it was the biggest gift ever given to this province. HBO spent £250 million over eight seasons and that was just the direct costs of making the show. In 2018 300,000 people came to Northern Ireland particularly to see Game of Thrones attractions. And now we have a permanent exhibition. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. It has turned Northern Ireland into one of the leading film and television locations in the world. He continued, “This is the greatest television show ever made, and it
was made here. And that is something for everyone that lives here should be incredibly proud of. I know I am. My personal favourite scene that I was in was definitely terriance trial. I got to watch Peter doing his closing speech about eight times, and every single time he just nailed it. Absolutely incredible to watch. My favourite episode is Battle of the Bastards, I think I have seen it ten times..” Ian McElhinney expressed regards for the craftsmanship seen throughout the set; “Our designs, our crafts people are really showcasing
a major way they were through the filming itself. And especially with the design, the imagination, the vision the craftsmanship is second to none. There are multiple things that if you look closely at, you cannot believe the amount of time and craft and energy, artwork and vision that has gone into making these things. And I think for a lot of people who come here are going to get what they haven’t had before as a visitor. You have seen it on the screen, but now you’re in it. And you’re surrounded by it. And you’re immersed in it. This is a buzz for people interested in events that are looking for immersive experiences. Warner Brothers, the distributors of Game of Thrones were asked What does this mean for the company?; “It is very exciting to open our very first experience in Northern Ireland. I think it’s having the privilege for us to work with everyone at the Studios to bring everything to life. It is great to be a part of the legacy of Game of Thrones. Being able to go around and be wowed by it, being a fan myself, you see things that you will be like oh I remember that bit. It makes me want to go back and rewatch the whole series again”. Linen Mill Studios,the set and location of the new tour also deemed the new experience as exciting; “We’re just incredibly excited to be opening. And to
actually spend every single day here and watch a live audience come through the sets, learning about the story of Game of Thrones. We talked about the immersive experience this brings but also the scale of it. I love that multiple layered story of seeing the detail of the costumes, seeing how it was made as well as the thought and concept behind it. And then seeing the plays and the sets and that’s fantastic. But I think what we really enjoy is the identity and authenticity of the Game of Thrones tour. This site was adapted into a film studio at the beginning of production and it was adapted into a film studio just to film Game of Thrones. “
Northern Ireland Travel News Exclusive Interview with Tourism NI’s CEO John McGrillen
Why is this Game of Thrones Tour so Important to NI and it’s Inbound Tourism?
I think as we try to recover from the pandemic we’re
going to find that every region on the planet is really going to try to recover the lost visitor numbers and visitor spend that they had pre COVID. We need to be as competitive as we possibly can and we need to have as wide an offer for the potential tourists as we possibly can. The game of thrones studio tour is really a world class visitor attraction modelled on the Harry Potter Studios. People want to engage with things that are authentic to the place they come from and that is a big thing for Linen Mill studios as 30 percent of the series were shot in the film studio. All the costumes and sets that you see everything that’s in that exhibition are authentic costumes and authentic sets that were used in the filming of what was the most successful tv series ever recorded. It’s important that we have facilities like that to add to Titanic Belfast and the giants causeway which are the big attractors. Prior to COVID we had around 360,000 people come here every year because of game of thrones. However, there was nothing here that told the story of how Game of Thrones was really made. It is important for us to have the studio tour in order to attract those 360,000 people who came here every year and I hope we build off the back of that. What challenges, If any, did you experience in keeping this
tourist attraction here in
Northern Ireland? There has been a lot of work done over a period of
time with HBO to have Northern Ireland recognised as the home of thrones, the place were Game of Thrones was filmed. I think over a period of ten years, Northern Ireland Screen built a very good relationship with HBO which allowed us to build a relationship with HBO. We worked very closely with them to make sure that when people were previously running tours or trying to use the brand, that brand was used in a way that was aligned with the brand values of HBO themselves. It was important for them that Game of Thrones brand was not exploited and was protected and we helped them do that. HBO were always going to look towards Northern Ireland, the fundamental reason it’s here is because the John Hogg group who own the site and their financial partners stephens ink? 6:10 from the United States have invested £44 million in this venture and that’s why it’s here. Had it not been for that huge investment it wouldn’t be here. Linen Mills relationship with HBO and have made a huge investment to make this happen and were The beneficiary’s of that in many ways.
What can our NI Travel News readers expect
when they come to experience this tour for themselves? it’s hard to get a sense of the scale of the attraction,
the scale of the sets, the intricacy of the costumes, the detail that has gone into making those and making the sets. When you go into that building you wouldn’t think that those were papier-mâché walls. They look as real as you would ever imagine, you would himm they are built out of bricks and mortar. The way they take you through
the tour you get a massive sense of what it would’ve been like if you were one of the actors when this was being made. You get a sense that you are really there, you’re in Westeros. It’s that authenticity that makes a difference. If anyone goes there and is a massive fan of the series they will recognise everything instantly. It truly is world class in every sense. Personally, what is your favourite part of the experienced why? my favourite part of the experience was how they
showed how they made everything like the masks and makeup. To see how everything has been done is unique. Getting a sense of how they went about building these things, making the face mask and costumes. Can we expect to see an expansion of Game of Thrones Mania throughout NI in the coming years? it is going to be interesting, after the pandemic what
visitors return and how they return. Certainly for people who have came in the past this is experience will blow people away. Despite the fact that the series has ended, people are still engaging with it. It will become a must see and people will want to come and see what is on offer. There is also a curiosity factor from it as well, even people who aren’t familiar with game fo thrones will enjoy this visitor experience because it’s so different. If you went to the studio and hadn’t been game of thrones you’d certainly want to see it when you left. How does Tourism NI plan to promote this attraction across the world?
Our responsibility as Tourism Northern Ireland is
to promote visitor attractions on the island of Ireland. We have a big campaign about to run which will really showcase it to people leading up to Easter. Tourism Ireland look after the rest of the world and they are already proactively promoting it. Between ourselves and tourism Ireland we have significant plans to give it greater visibility. Warner brothers themselves have huge global outlets that can very easily promote this visitor attraction in a much greater way than we ever could.
Tourism NI CEO John McGrillen
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