The GOT Studio Tour has won the UKInbound Sustainable Tourism Provider of the Year award.

While the sets and items on display are themselves impressive, the Earth-friendly HVAC systems for the location are what earned them the award.

Recognised at the tourism industry group’s recent annual convention, Game of Thrones Studio Tour was hailed as a ‘world-class ultra-low carbon visitor attraction’. Located at the principal film studios for Game of Thrones – Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, Co Down – the immersive tourist destination invites fans of TV and film to go behind the scenes and discover the artistry that went into making the TV phenomenon. [ ... ] The Studio Tour’s priceless original film sets and assets are protected within the 110,000 sq. ft visitor experience by an HVAC system with close temperature and humidity control, sensible and latent heat recovery, free cooling and a modular zero-carbon heating system with energy storage. The UKInbound judging panel were already impressed by many aspects of the Sustainable Management plan at Game of Thrones Studio Tour and the scope of future aspiration. UKinbound CEO, Joss Croft, said: “A key part of our new sustainability strategy, is to showcase our member businesses who are doing great work to reduce energy usage and protect and regenerate the environment. In the future, we will use the practices and initiatives used by Game of Thrones Studio Tour to inspire our other members to take similar action in their businesses.”

In the near future I hope that ultra-low carbon systems such as this will be the norm rather than the exception.

New blog post is up about my trip to Belfast! We went to the Game of Thrones Studio Tour, aswell as some other locations they used to film, and the Titanic museum.

Games of Thrones Costumes & Props

Located in Action & Magic Made Here exhibit at the Warner Bros Studio Tour Hollywood

Channeling my inner Myrcella Baratheon at Game of Thrones Studios Tour last Saturday

Indira Varma!

Manhunt

Tobias Menzies -Emmy Award Winner in the ‧ Conspiracy Fiction Manhunt - 2024

The 2024 Winter Television Critics Association press tour, Apple TV+ revealed the trailer for “Manhunt,” the upcoming seven-part, true crime limited series starring Emmy Award-winning actor Tobias Menzies (“The Crown,” “Game of Thrones”), and created by Emmy nominee Monica Beletsky (“Fargo,” “The Leftovers,” “Friday Night Lights”), who also serves as showrunner and executive producer. “Manhunt” makes its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Friday, March 15, 2024, and new episodes will debut Fridays, culminating in the finale on April 19, 2024.

Based on the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning nonfiction book from author James L. Swanson, “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer “ is a conspiracy thriller about one of the best-known but least understood crimes in history, the astonishing story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Part historical fiction, part conspiracy thriller, Edwin Stanton delves into the aftermath of the first American presidential assassination-and the fight to preserve and protect the ideals that were the foundation of Lincoln's Reconstruction plans.

Starring alongside Menzies are Anthony Boyle (“Masters of the Air,” “Tetris”), Lovie Simone (“Greenleaf”), Will Harrison (“Daisy Jones & The Six”), Brandon Flynn (“13 Reasons Why”), Damian O’Hare (“Hatfields & McCoys”), Glenn Morshower (“The Resident”), Patton Oswalt (“A.P. Bio”), Matt Walsh (“Veep”) and Hamish Linklater (“The Big Short”).

Manhunt” is produced by Apple Studios and coproduced by Lionsgate Television, in association with POV Entertainment, Walden Media, 3 Arts Entertainment, Dovetale Productions and Monarch Pictures. Beletsky, Emmy nominee Carl Franklin, Layne Eskridge and Kate Barry executive produce. Swanson, author of “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer,” also serves as executive producer alongside Michael Rotenberg, Richard Abate, Frank Smith and Naia Cucukov. Franklin (“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” “One False Move,” and “Devil in a Blue Dress”) also directed the first two episodes.

“Manhunt” will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on Friday, March 15.

Tobias Menzies great actor. I’m determined to watch the series 🍿

doing cocaine off of the game of thrones studio tour collectors spoon

Went to the Game of Thrones studio tour today.

Was fabulous.

Absurd amounts of travel to do what would be a 56 minute drive via public transport.

Worth it.

The comedown has already hit though. People going home after the holiday, pain and tiredness.

Did something I was super proud of earlier though, wandered through Belfast with BF and nephew instead of sitting in the train station for two hours convinced that everyone hates me when they’re actually just overtired and peopled out too.

Instead of being afraid of my mental, I’m owning it and working around it.

And have stocked up with easy comfort food (fancy Ramen and chocolate and lemon meringue pie and sweet potato au gratin) and have many clean blankets.

Just. I’m tired of being horrible to myself.

currently at the game of thrones studio tour …. i am cringe but i am free ❤️

Hmmmmm, it says anything....what kind of things do you like to do for fun???

Thanks for the ask. I don't usually do this so here goes. It's long but fuck it no one's asked before and maybe it'd be good bed time reading for insomniacs.

If I'm not managing my pinterest or taking care of my two kids then I'm usually working so I try to make the best of any free time I have. If it's just me and the kids, we usually visit parks, historical sites or the zoo. At home my eldest likes to watch My Froggy Stuff on Youtube. The presenter shows how to make doll furniture and accessories so we make our own pieces and watch Pedro's SNL on repeat. Her choice, not mine. It was funny the first 100 times, not so much anymore. She now does "the hospital voice". He has ruined my life😄

My husband travels for work a lot and studies so when we do have time together as a family we make the most of it. I live close to Dublin city and we're spoiled here for activities. It's full of museums, galleries, historical sites, parks and busy streets with live music. It sounds like I'm working for the tourism board but it's honestly an amazing place to live. If it's the 4 of us we can hit a restaurant, check out the buskers of Grafton Street, visit the Disney store, go to a museum and get lost in some woodlands all in a 4 hour trip door to door and for less than €100 so we do that regularly. Our last family day out was to the Game of Thrones studio tour which is in Northern Ireland. That's just 90 minutes away. (It's great but Pedro's costumes are in storage since the last tour with only accessories and weapon on show and Bella only showed for a few seconds in a VT so my kid was annoyed that neither Marcus Moreno or The Worst Witch got the appreciation they deserve). Again we're spoiled, my husband is from the North so we're regularly at GOT sites because his family live near by (Mourne Mountains, Tullymore Forest, Linen Mill Studios). I used to drink in Belfast when Pedro was there but I wasn't a fan of "Tits, Ass and Dragons" then or the tiny pub they used to hang out in. Or the dirty one with kegs for seats😆. I made bad decisions and yes, I hate myself for it now.

On the rare occasion we have time off together and we have babysitters, we'll go to a live gig followed by some booze in The Porterhouse and some Iranian food in Zaytoon. I'm not picky. We'll go to music, comedy, theatre, musicals, sport, a festival or trade shows. I'm spoiled for choice. Artists like to start their European tours here and the main venues are 30 mins away. The last gigs I was at were Counting Crows, Chris Rock, The Book of Mormon, Ireland v USA, Taste of Dublin and I collect whiskey, there are a few trade shows a year. (Sounds wanker-y but they're good investments. An annual release of a €180 bottle over 5 years can be sold as a collection for thousands should you need quick cash.)

If I need alone time, it's tough to find here. I can't stress that enough. Dubliners and visitors are generally super friendly and open so strangers will talk to you constantly and there's nowhere to hide. If I need to clear my head then it's headphones on, grab a smoke at the highest point I can reach in the city so I can take in the view. Walk the city looking for new graffiti by my favourite artists/collectives while listening to local bands (Fontaines DC, Thumper, Damien Dempsey, Dermot Kennedy, Tebi Rex, Denise Chaila, Wyvern Lingo), get some thai street food, watch some buskars (check out Allie Sherlock) on Grafton Street, get a pint in Keoghs, go to a few galleries before heading home to hide in my cabin to watch 70s and 80s movies.

My cabin is my other baby. I bought my house with the cabin in mind and finally had it installed it in 2020. It's a self contained apartment, is sound proof, has a 7.1 surround sound cinema and doubles as a gym. Sounds super wanker-y but it was another investment which is paying off when I rent it out sometimes. Eventually it will be an apartment for one of the kids when they're older and can't move out because of the chronic housing shortage we have in the city. We aren't indulgent in other ways so being able to watch old movies in 4k while cranking out a weeks worth of laundry and getting in some steps makes other sacrifices worth it.

LA Adventure- Day 2! (Part 2)

We got to briefly stop and see around a real live sound stage! We weren’t allowed to take any photos of the inside as the show was still filming (they’d stopped for lunch!) but it was so fascinating seeing how they make these 3 camera sitcoms. The set was made up for “Bob <3 Abishola” (spelt with a heart symbol I’m not just being lazy haha) which is a typical sitcom like Big Bang Theory or Young Sheldon or Friends. They’re called 3 camera sitcoms because typically they only use 3 camera angles! One on the character speaking, one on whomever they’re speaking to, and then one for the wide shots with everything in it. The sound stage is laid out in a grid fashion, with 4 sets on each side of a narrow passageway. This passageway is referred to as camera alley because this is where the cameras will be! As with before, the sets don’t have ceilings on them to allow for lighting and the cameras are in a fixed position so as to not see the lights. It takes about 5 days to film one episode, and the sets are left as they are throughout the whole filming season as most of that time is dedicated to set up! After this the tour of the backlot continued, we drove past a few more famous locations! They have a massive jungle area with real plants from the jungle (as the climate will allow for it!). This was ESPECIALLY of interest to me as this was the area where they filmed the iconic T-Rex chase scene from Jurassic Park!! Warner Bros. let’s other studios use their facilities too, which is why some of the locations seem above are used in things like Breaking Bad, Jurassic Park and Spider-Man. They also have a big pit which can be filled with water to create a lagoon, or with dirt to create a graveyard. Versatile! After the outside lots - which were MASSIVE - we navigated to a warehouse area of the tour which had costumes and props on display. It was very cool to see! Costumes from Interview with the Vampire, Batman, Crazy Rich Asians, Space Jam, and of course a whole host of DC superheroes. They even had some from Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon. The costumers were intricately made, the detail was outstanding! For example on Aquaman’s suit there’s tiny iridescent scales all over. The props were cool too as they were primarily the Batmobile and other Bat-items from across the Batman movies. They had this cool area from The Hobbit which showed how they did the forced perspective trickery to make the Hobbits look small and Gandalf look big! The studio tour really made a point to showcase every aspect of the filmmaking process, detailing how costumes and props and sets were made. The amount of afford put in to each and every part of filmmaking is insane, no wonder it takes so long to make because so much detail is included, things you may not even see or notice unless you’re looking really close! Sam Warner (one of the Warner Brothers) advocated for the use of Vitaphone, the process of using sound in cinema, and it was fascinating to see how they would make the sounds for shows. For example, in the Spider-Man kiss scene, to prevent the fake rainwater from going up Tobey McGuire’s nose, they used a combination of cotton wool and Vaseline to plug up his nose! However this meant that he couldn’t speak properly, so he re-recorded his lines using the sound system to make himself sound clearer over the rain. If you go back and watch the film, you’ll notice that Kirsten Dunst as Mary-Jane only lifts the mask up to below Spider-Man’s nose, to prevent the cameras from picking up on the cotton wool! They also had things such as wooden boards and fake shoes to amplify the sound of actors walking on set, as typically the sets would have plastic floors to prevent the actors’ footsteps from drowning out their lines. Thus by dubbing over the footsteps, the sound department can control how loud they are and change the volume depending on the scene. Such cool stuff!! From storyboards to green screens to motion capture to physical makeup, it was incredibly to see behind the scenes and had given me an even greater appreciation for all those involved!

Oberyns weapons and armour at the Game of Thrones Studio Tour in Northern Ireland.

Some great details on the spear and I love the snake heads on the sword and the blood drop rubies!

Oberyns helmet.

Sadly the yellow robe doesn’t exist anymore. It was reused in some of the later Dorne costumes so it can’t be displayed anymore. What a shame.

As a cool little Easter egg there was a the red viper in the small council chamber.

Wir sind in Aït Ben Habdou angekommen. Einem kleinen Ort mitten in Marokko, welches zum @unesco Kulturerbe zählt. Der Ort ist wunderschön! Wer schon mal hier war, kennt die kleine Berühmtheit. Wer noch niemals hier war, hat den Ort in zahlreichen Kino-Filmen schon gesehen. So diente Aït Ben Habdou als Kulisse für „Gladiator“, „James Bond“, „Asterix & Obelix“, „Games of Thrones“ und viele mehr. Wir kennen den Ort also alle 😉. Unsere Tour führte uns weiter zu den Atlas Film Studios, wo wir viele Film Kulissen aus den oben genannten Filmen sehen und anfassen konnten. Dies gilt als das Hollywood Marokkos. Doch es ging noch weiter auf unserem @forfamilyreisen Raodtrip, bis an den Rand der Sahara 🐪. Von hier aus geht es nun weiter… #aitbenhaddou #aïtbenhaddou #familienabenteuer #fravely #reiseblog #travel #travelblog #reisenmitkind #familienreise #familie #travelfamily #reisefamilie #reisenmitkindern #forfamilyreisen #marokko #morocco #visitmorocco #visitmarokko #travelmarokko #travelwithkids #travelafrika #adventure #abenteuer #adventuremarokko (hier: Aït Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, Morocco) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkK1Nrrsp4A/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Excursion to the Desert: Day 1

Tuesday morning we wake for our last breakfast at the Villas and load the cars for a 3 day excursion with Desert Majesty.  We are 10 women in 2 cars - 6 of us from the art retreat in one car and Coco (our travel agent) and her friends in the other car.  As we depart, our driver Abdullah, tells us we have about 6 hours of driving and lots of stops today.  I could not believe the traffic - all tour vans as we depart Marrakesh. 

First stop before lunch: Telouet Kasbhah, a historic site in small village.  At this point, we had already driven a lot of “zig zags” (hairpin turns) of the Atlas Mountains and had to make several stops for those who were car sick.  Since I don’t get car sick, I was in the way back of the van, but that didn’t prevent the anxiety of the mountain roads and tailgating culture!  After we wandered the historic site, we had lunch at a small rooftop cafe.  The landscape was just amazing and the drive took us through so many villages. After lunch we made another stop at a UNESCO World Heritage site, Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou.  This site still has families living in it, but also felt like a tour attraction at the same time. It has been a popular site for filming like The Gladiator and Game of Thrones and the nearby city had large movie studios and movie themed art and sculptures.  We wandered this site for quite some time and a few of us climbed to the very top for amazing views (and interesting to see solar panels on the ancient structures). We continue driving to the Valley of the Roses with a quick ATM stop, but it’s dark before we arrive.  Our driver called ahead and asked a shop keeper to stay open for a shopping/bathroom break, so we all bought some handmade beauty products.  

Let me pause here and tell you about our bathroom stops...our first stop was a tourist stop with at least 20 vans pulled up out front.  The restrooms are sometimes coed, but with men’s/women’s stalls once you get inside.  And we had to often pay an attendant coins to enter and/or get toilet paper, so we quickly started carrying our own kleenex, hand sanitizer and took turns paying for each other depending on who had coins!  As we progressed into the mountains, sometimes our bathroom stops were just “squat toilets” in the back of shops were you asked for coins and then to shop on your way out.

We finally get to Chez Ichou, our lovely guesthouse for the evening after 9 pm. After we all freshen up, we gather for dinner in a cozy dining room with a warm fireplace blazing. No matter how late, we always have a formal meal.  I actually laid my head on the table at one point and another friend says she will leave dinner at 10:30 no matter what course we are on!  I don’t leave dinner until 11:15 and got a great night sleep with the heater on and big cozy duvet.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour

Part 3 Feat. Indira Varma