Q&A
The belly of the beast: inside Dragon Studios
Hannah Collins catches up with one of the country’s biggest studios and finds that post-COVID, Operations Director Tom Guy has never been busier.
How do you think the film industry in Wales has managed, post-pandemic? Tom Guy: It’s been really busy, and I’m glad. Many of our amazing crew, unfortunately, fell through the gaps when it came to government funding during lockdown so to get them back was important. We noticed the streamers got back to work quickly and the output in the industry during the first quarter post-pandemic was the highest we’ve seen – mainly driven by the fact everyone watched so much of their content during lockdown they had to come up with new content!
Do you feel optimistic about the future of film in Wales?
I do and have done for some time. We’ve built a reputation for having talented crew, great facilities and amazing locations and are recognised for those things worldwide. Because of that, we’ve attracted some of the largest production companies from all over the world. Here at Dragon Studios, we’ve been fortunate enough to work with NBCUniversal and Lucasfilm in the past few years and continue to build on those relationships. I also work closely with both colleges and universities and the work they’re doing preparing the next generation is great. It’s vital we invest in them. I’ve seen the work going into this and I’m optimistic that the industry will keep growing.
What’s the importance of homegrown
filmmaking to the culture and economy of the country? It’s vitally important. I was fortunate enough to be trained at the BBC many years ago and worked on some great S4C dramas all over Wales. The grounding I received led me to where I am now. It’s not all about working on the largest shows with the largest budgets – it’s about working on shows that push you to think for yourself, find creative solutions and, most importantly, learn and observe what other departments do so that you can understand and appreciate their roles, too. We have some incredibly talented homegrown companies and individuals in Wales that are key in bringing people into the industry – people like Gareth Evans (Gangs Of London, Havoc), Marc Evans (The Pembrokeshire
(Lost Boys, Fairies, Llwyth), Russel T. Davies and many more doing incredible work and promote Welsh culture so well.
Murders), Dafydd James
How do you attract big studios from overseas? In a way, Wales does a lot of that for me with its incredible landscapes and talented crew. Here at Dragon Studios, we’ve invested in building bigger and better facilities so that crew have the best possible environment. This means high-end TV shows (HETV) have the facilities they need to produce epic shows. Studios are bespoke buildings, requiring large spaces to build huge sets, and suspending
large loads from the ceilings. Productions also need large workshops on-site to build these incredible sets but also need to manufacture their own costumes, props, creatures, etc. We’re also keen to make sure that crew have somewhere to step away from their desk, which is why we’re also working on keeping green spaces and encouraging crew to use our woodlands.
One of the biggest things you’ve been working on is Willow. Is there anything you can share about the filming of it? Not much. It was shot 50/50 between studio and location. The crew used the best landscapes and locations Wales has to offer; I can’t wait to see it on screen.
What other productions coming out soon should people look out for? There were so many great shows made in Wales last year, that it’d be unfair to pick out any over the others, but I’m confident people will recognise some of the locations when they see them on screen, and hopefully, some that they won’t! As a former location manager, I always
loved the challenge of finding the little secluded places that maybe hadn’t been shot before. People always tell me they love playing ‘spot the location’, so I won’t spoil that game for anyone!
Info:
dragonstudios.wales
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Industry Special
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Willow
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