In 2021 the TAGE - International Audiovisual Centre project was announced, a partnership between Palmela City Hall and FreshWisdom to be developed over the following years in Vale do Alecrim, in the parish of Palmela.
The Centre represented an investment, at the time, of 175 million euros, which would create 500 jobs in the construction area in each phase, 700 direct jobs in the first phase (in the sum of the three, it will be more than 2,000) and 1,100 indirect jobs in this initial phase (more than 3,000 in the sum of the three).
Portugal has seen a boom of film productions being filmed in the country in recent years - Fast X, Heart of Stone, Damsel or one of the next works in the Star Wars saga - and there is more news about this Hollywood project on Portuguese soil, via The Hollywood Reporter.
The construction of the Tage Studios, as they are being called, has not yet started - it is planned for the end of next year or the beginning of 2025 - and they will be the first to be built entirely with environmental sustainability in mind. Currently, the investment has increased and the value is already at 200 million euros.
David Hallyday, founder and director of Tage Studios, guarantees that the studios will be environmentally friendly and self-sustaining from day one. The facilities are designed to be zero-energy structures, with photovoltaic panels and systems to recover and reuse electricity and rainwater. The preservation of local biodiversity plays a major role in the construction, as does the use of locally sourced materials and recycled waste.
Hallyday justified the choice of the country for the new facilities for two distinct reasons. With solar energy in mind, he considers Portugal "the California of Europe", due to the average 300 days of sunshine per year. Environmental policies and the Portuguese government's ecological measures also played a part in the decision to build the studios on national soil.
The dimensions of the Tage Studios will be on a par with the best studios in the world, and will be the largest in Europe, surpassing Pinewood (London), Warner Leavesden (Watford) and Babelsberg (Berlin). The main studio in Palmela will have 5,200 sqm, and there will also be six other stages, between 2,000 and 3,600 sqm. The external area will be 55,000 sqm, with an open-air water tank.
This investment represents an excellent opportunity for Portugal, both in terms of the film industry and tourism. Hallyday admits the difficulties, high costs and delay that a project of this magnitude presents, but knows that there is no other option. Debbie Levin, CEO of the Environmental Media Association, who is working on the project with Tage Studios, adds: "We can't wait to start shouting to the world about the opportunity to film in this magical and innovative environment."