UK FILM STUDIOS
all the world’s a stage
Jon Creamer discovers how the UK’s film and high-end studios operators are rushing to meet the seemingly insatiable demand for more and more stage space
O
ver the past year or so, an announcement of a new studio build, an expansion of an existing facility or the conversion of a space for filming use, seemed to come almost every week. From the tail end of 2019
until now, new studios or expansions of existing ones, have been announced for
Twickenham, Liverpool, Dagenham, Bristol, Park Royal, Wembley, Reading, Manchester, Elstree, Enfield, Ashford and Edinburgh. And that’s just a snapshot. The reasons are obvious. According to the BFI’s
latest figures, despite the months of suspended filming during the 2020 lockdown, the final three months of the year recorded a £1.19 billion spend for UK film and high-end TV production, the second highest ever over a three-month period. Even COVID failed to stem the huge influx of production in the UK. Existing studios have full order books, productions are resorting to unconverted warehouse space to shoot in. The demand curve is upwards and the need for more studios is pressing “The space race continues to intensify, and the market is white hot due to the demand,” says
PRODUCTION
Time+Space Studios’ Co-Founder, Piers Read, whose company operates Twickenham and has plans in place in Liverpool and Kent. Read points out that the need for studios is obvious due to the streamers currently using ‘meanwhile spaces’. “Necessity appears to be the mother of invention, but this is a short-term solution.”
ON DEMAND Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and The British Film Commission, argues that “demand is clearly outstripping supply. We haven’t reached the limits of the demand curve and we haven’t reached the limits of the space that people want.” He says it’ll be five years, even with the space already announced, for the UK to reach full capacity. “Demand from the streamers is pretty much insatiable. They don’t seem to have any intention to slow down in commissioning. That demand curve is likely to carry on going up and that means that we need to build more studios.” Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden has just
announced three new sound stages, providing 83,000 sq. ft. of additional production space alongside a new virtual production stage. Emily Stillman, SVP, Studio Operations, says “there is a huge demand for capacity in the UK at the moment. It means studios are having to work harder than ever to accommodate productions and to be clever with their use of space. Every inch of WBSL is allocated at the moment. Studios are responding to demand and planning to build more stages. I think there will be pressure on space despite these expansions.” Over in the west country, Laura Aviles, Senior
Bristol Film Manager at The Bottle Yard Studios, says it’s “really clear that the UK is busier than ever for film and TV production nationally, and more space is a priority for everybody right now.” The Bottle Yard is planning a further £12m three stage expansion, and, as Aviles points out, as it is local authority money being used, it’s far from a just a punt. “we’re confident that those would be sustainable. I do think it’s here for the long haul.” Antony Iredale, Managing Director of Location
Collective, whose outfit recently opened OMA Studios in Enfield, north London, and follows that up with the 224,000 sq. ft OMA:X this summer, says that “in the short to medium term, the industry definitively does need more stage space” With his studios grabbing the current “window of opportunity” to establish themselves before ground- up developments come online. The BFC’s Wootton says, “We’re still a few years
away from reaching what I would consider to be the necessary capacity to meet with demand” and alongside everything that’s already been announced “There are actually a lot of projects we’re being talked to about confidentially by investors now that
Summer 2021
televisual.com 71
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