Mediawan co-founder Xavier Niel buys former French air base to build film studio

French Billionaire Xavier Niel, co-founder of entertainment giant Mediawan, has purchased a former military air base in France with the ambition to turn it into a film studio called Studios de Reims.

The 48-hectare (119-acre) site is in the Champagne region of Northern France, around an hour away from Paris by train.

The deal was for an estimated €72m, with the French government contributing €12m.

A spokesperson for Niel told French newspaper l’Union that the proposed facility could create 250-300 jobs and be a “one-stop shop” for shooting films and series.

The site, which has been vacant since 2011, will house 17,000 m² of film sets, 28,000 m² of outdoor space and 22,412 m² of dressing rooms, workshops, and storage areas.

Three phases of planned renovations are scheduled to last until 2031, with the studio aiming to be operational by 2026. A training school for audiovisual professions is also in the works.

The new site has been rolled into the French government’s €54bn ‘France 2030’ plan, which aims to global production bolster infrastructure in the country.

Other major studios in France include the Paris-adjacent Studios de Paris and Bry-sur-Marne Studios, the latter of which has recently opened a virtual production studio, plus other hubs in the South such as the Studios de Provence in Martigues.

Niel, who made his fortune in telecoms and tech, co-founded Mediawan with Matthieu Pigasse and Pierre-Antoine Capton in 2015. Mediawan has more than 85 film and TV production labels in 14 countries.