Talks have taken place between a consortium and Dundee City Council about the possibility of the city becoming the site for Scotland’s first major film studio.
The consortium, calling itself Studio City Scotland, is said to be made up of local businesspeople, financiers and major figures in film, including Dundee actor Brian Cox and Hollywood producer Barrie Osborne.
A council spokesman confirmed talks had taken place between the two parties.
Secrecy surrounds the organisation and their dealings, as none of the proposals are before the Film Studio Delivery Group tasked by the Scottish Government with reporting on the options for a national film studio.
It is reported that the consortium is in talks with Dundee City Council over a plan to build an energy-efficient studio adjacent to the Claverhouse Industrial Park in the north of the city.
The 138-acre site has been identified for the project.
A spokesperson for Creative Scotland said they knew nothing of the project either, although it is reported that a planning application could be on Dundee City Council planners’ desks within a few months.
It would be in competition with the Pentland Film Studio complex and a rumoured Glasgow film studio concept, which is said to be favoured by Scottish Enterprise.
Like the Pentland studio, the potential operators in Dundee could proceed on the basis of private finance only, though a source close to the project has said they are willing to work with the Scottish Government to provide a movie studio for Scotland.
Last summer The Courier reported Oscar-winning producer Mr Osborne hoped to film a multi-million-pound children’s fantasy series, dubbed Scotland’s Lord of the Rings, in Tayside.
It was reported the producer, whose credits include the Matrix, the Great Gatsby and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was part of a team hoping to bring the $300 million three-film franchise to the region.
The team hoped the project would also pave the way for a permanent state-of-the-art Tayside studio complex.
An industry source said at the time: “Tayside ticks a number of strategic boxes.
“The digital and creative arts are particularly strong in the region, there is a great deal of willing on behalf of the local and central government to further enhance the Tayside regeneration, and with the advent of the V&A the region is set to develop as a quality tourist destination.”