Dragon Studios, Home To ‘Willow’ & ‘Havoc’ Shoots, Facing Closure Threat Over Unpaid Tax Bill
EXCLUSIVE: Dragon Studios is facing the threat of closure as the UK tax authority chases the Welsh film and TV studio facility for an unpaid bill.
Dragon Studios, based in Bridgend, has provided a home to titles including Disney+ series Willow and Havocthe Tom Hardy action movie for Netflix.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued the company with a “winding-up petition,” which in the UK is often the last resort taken by a creditor when attempting to recover debt.
HMRC is essentially seeking a court order to put Dragon Studios into liquidation. The petition alone could trigger the freezing of Dragon’s bank accounts.
When contacted by Deadline on Tuesday, Dragon Studios said it had yet to receive the petition and business operations continue. The company has since contacted HMRC.
UK studio facilities have suffered a difficult period following the Hollywood strikes, while the spectre of protectionism looms in America, as Donald Trump’s administration explores film tariffs.
Dragon Studios boasts five sound stages across a 100-acre site and claims to be the largest film and TV complex in Wales. Owned by businessman Gethyn Mills, the company secured a £9M ($12.2M) cash injection from Bergen Finance to help fund an expansion in 2022.
Dragon’s most recently filed accounts showed that the company owed creditors a total of £2.4M in the year to December 31, 2023. This included £243,737 in tax and social security, which was due to be repaid by the end of last year. The company also had a debt pile of £1.1M.
‘Havoc’
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and only file winding-up petitions once we’ve exhausted all other options, in order to protect taxpayers’ money.”
Other titles filmed at Dragon include The Bastard Executioner (Fox), Brave New World (NBC Universal), Sherlockand The King (Netflix).
Dragon is not the only UK studio facility facing issues. Crown Works Studios, the £450M ($620M) studio backed by James Corden‘s Fulwell Entertainment, lost its main backer, Cain International, last month. Meanwhile, the sale of Sherlock and The Outlaws studio Bottle Yard, in Bristol, collapsed this week.
