Hollywood subsidiary to build filming studio near Thessaloniki, says Digital Governance Min.

Minister of Digital Governance Kyriakos Pierrakakis on Friday announced the creation of a film studio in the town of Thermi, outside Thessaloniki, northern Greece.

The announcement was made alongside representatives of the authorities involved in the project, namely the Central Macedonia Region, the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) and of the investing company Nu Boyana Film Studios, an affiliate of Millennium Films, one of the longest-running independent film companies in Hollywood.

This is "an investment worth 20 million euros by Nu Boyana Hellenic (...) which will employ at least one hundred people in permanent job positions," said Central Macedonia regional governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas, who went on to say that "our aim is to render Thessaloniki the heart of audio-visual productions across southeastern Europe."

"This will be the country's first region to acquire a fully functional film studio," added Tzitzikostas.

In his part, Pierakakis said that "it is good how the field of digital technology and filmmaking has been addressed as an asset for the country, as it ought to," and described the founding of EKOME by the previous SYRIZA government as the "absolute step in this direction."

The film studio will span 8.3 hectares (83 stremmas), will include eight filming sets, while the filming plateaus will extend across 15,000 square meters, within a total of 25,000 square meters of studio space total.

Nu boyana Studios representatives said that they would "await the explanatory circular on tax reductions, while the start of operations is scheduled for a year from the issuing of building permits." They also quoted Greek-American film producer Yiannis Kalafatis saying from New York that filming may even begin before the entire project is completed, as in early 2020.