Ronan Willson

Dracula Untold from Universal Pictures was released this month. The movie was shot entirely in locations all over Northern Ireland. During the Belfast stint, Rigging Ireland were at the old C&C factory in the east of the city.

Working alongside Elstree Light & Power (under the direction of Ronan Willson) our riggers converted the disused C&C factory warehouses in Belfast into temporary studios.

Ronan Willson is a respected structural engineer who made his name in the rock and roll touring industry during the late 1970's. He has become a pioneer in the design of trussing and temporary structures for the film and TV industries. To avoid overloading the weak roof he designed a huge truss and scaffold structure from which the lighting and set was suspended.

Truss gantries had to be assembled and flown into the roof, they were then braced and "deaded off" before the hoists were removed. The supporting scaffold structure was then built around all four walls to allow easy access throughout.

Once completed, we also supplied the lighting, rigging and greens departments with riggers, crew and plant operators in the studios and on all of their locations around the country.

The former C&C premises are now for sale with planning permission to be developed into a permanent film studio, so we could be seeing a lot more of the place.