Northern Ireland Enjoys the 'Game of Thrones' Effect Extras are sworn to secrecy, coach tours are ferrying fans to locations--Game of Thrones has helped transform Northern Ireland into a second Hollywood

• Published in: The Daily Beast
• Main Author: Kennedy, Dana
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company LLC 15.04.2015
• Subjects: Motion picture directors & producers; Television programs; Tourism; Europe; Northern Ireland

Fans of the show from all over the world board buses that take them around coast and countryside visiting locations made famous because much of the HBO show is shot here. Since 2007, when Tom Hanks's production company decided to shoot City of Ember with Bill Murray in Belfast, an increasing number of movies (Dracula Untold, Philomena, Killing Bono, and the upcoming High Rise among them) as well as TV shows are being shot in Northern Ireland. Nairn also tells interviewers that he can't tell them anything about new storylines (except he'll be on hiatus for Season 5) or he'll "be shot." Since its launch, Game of Thrones has netted the local economy more than $120 million, according to Belfast city officials, and created more than 900 full-time and 5,700 part-time jobs.EMPTY Moyra Lock, a marketing director with Northern Ireland Screen, which lobbied HBO to film the series here with the help of government funds, told The Daily Beast that the region is "like the world's most compact and convenient backlot, about the size if not smaller of the greater Los Angeles area."