DRAMA AND FILM STUDIOS/HIRE
WHAT’S NEXT?
Despite COVID-19, studios are currently high in confidence with new developments and new additions continuing. There’s also the expectation that shiny floor shows will be beneficiaries of the changed landscape. PLUS a look at the fortunes of the equipment rental sector. Jon Creamer reports
or studios, whether they’re focussed on film and TV drama or shiny floor shows, confidence
is running high despite the current unpleasantness. New studio developments aiming
to capitalise on the boom in inward investment episodic TV shows and movies have barely broken stride during lockdown. The proposed new Dagenham Film
Studios planned for former industrial land in east London was approved this month by the local council with six sound stages totalling 140,000 sq. ft. Sky Studios Elstree similarly cleared
its final planning hurdle in July with construction beginning this month on 12 sound stages with a modular design meaning the biggest stages can increase to cover 60,000 sq. ft. The total area of the site will cover the equivalent of 17 football pitches. Elstree Studios itself is also moving
ahead with two new super stages along with workshops and offices at the Elstree Studios Borehamwood site that will be ready to go next year. Announced during lockdown
was film and TV locations company, Location Collective’s, plan to open a new 139,000 sq. ft. studio in North London this summer. The studio, claimed as London’s biggest TV and film studio, is built in a former industrial unit in Enfield. Netflix was already planning to
expand its physical presence in the UK by creating a ‘dedicated production hub’ comprising a mix of 14 sound stages, workshops and office space it will lease at Pinewood-owned Shepperton. Meanwhile, Pinewood is spending £1bn to nearly double its sound stages after striking a long term deal with Disney. Atlanta-based studios group
Blackhall has also announced plans for a major studios complex on the outskirts of Reading. The company aims to build the £150m complex on the University of Reading’s Thames Valley Science Park. Planning consent was also granted
mid-April for the new Ashford International Film Studios. The £250m
36
televisual.com Summer 2020
THE STAGE IS SET
studio-led transformation of Kent’s derelict Newtown Railway Works is driven by Piers Read and Jeremy Rainbird’s The Creative District Improvement Company (TCDI) and Quinn Estates. Rainbird and Read also used lockdown to open a brand new television studio facility at their Twickenham Studios base.
Safe spaces Television studios, in particular, look
set to be the earliest to be back in full swing. With guidelines on shooting so tight, “controlled environments are key,” says Elstree Studios md, Roger Morris. Studios do have the massive
advantage of being an environment that can be rigorously regulated and contained. “I do think there will be an attraction to studios full stop,” says BBC Studioworks ceo, Andrew Moultrie. And that’s “purely because you can control the environment. You can test people coming in and out and
you’re contained in one space. There’s more control of the environment and even the micro environments within, compared to going out in the field.” Managing partner at Twickenham
Studios, Jeremy Rainbird, says that “with the measures we have introduced, it is a perfect place for people to re-boot various production workflows by accessing the site safely and securely. Being set in a secluded location in the leafy suburb of Richmond offers several obvious advantages in these COVID-times. “ All the signs so far point to
entertainment shows, with their fast turnarounds and relatively modest budgets, being in high demand from broadcasters. “Delivering big dramas is going to
be a really costly exercise,” points out Moultrie as on set restrictions will drive already expensive drama budgets up and “budgets are going to be put under a lot more pressure.” Broadcaster cupboards are also looking pretty
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96
