A British investment group, Extraordinary Features, is planning to develop a digital film production studio based in La Bisbal, Spain.

The town is near Girona, in Catalonia.

The budget for the project is Euros 8m.

Girona-based producer Chris Samwells is founder and CEO of the Extraordinary Film Studios, which will start operations in January 2011 to be fully operational by September 2011.

Samwells said Catalonia “is a great place to invest, with some of the most varied and dazzling locations in the world, and we will do so in earnest with the latest technologies within a sensible and sustainable business model.”

The Chameleons will start shooting in February 2011.

He noted that four film projects (representing investment of Euros 21m) are set to shoot there, including The Chameleons, a spy thriller written and directed by Samwells himself, followed by Spanish Civil War story International Brigade, and an animated film.

The studio is expected to create about 80 jobs. “The system can be recreated in other parts of Spain and Europe, because it is sustainable,” Samwells said. “The idea is to grow through franchises based on our model – creating a legacy for communities and areas embracing it.”