PRODUCTION
UK FILM STUDIOS
NEW STUDIO BUILDS AND EXPANSION
June ‘21 Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden launches three new sound stages, providing 83,000 sq. ft. of additional production space along with V Stage, a virtual production stage. June ‘21 Farnborough Film Studios in Hampshire opened by Stage Fifty. Hartswood Films the first tenant on the two sound stages totalling 44,000 sq ft of production space. June ‘21 Plans announced for a new studio site outside Marlow, Buckinghamshire on a former landfill site by Dido Property May ‘21 Elstree Studios begins construction on two new sound stages and ancillary workshops on the site of the former Big Brother house after contractors R. G. Carter Construction were awarded the main contract for the £15.6 million project.
May ‘21 Location Collective announces it will open the doors to the 224,000 sq. ft Enfield- based OMA:X Film Studios this summer. The new facility is located just 750m away from the company’s first film studio venture OMA Film Studios, completed in August 2020. May ’21 Twickenham Film Studios, operated by TIME + SPACE Studios’ unveils its rebrand along with the refit of TFS Sound Theatre
bridgerton
will further enhance that capacity. Maybe when we’ve got all the announced developments plus the ones that aren’t announced yet, which will be at least five years, then we may get there. But we’re going to end up being one of the largest film and television content making centres on Earth.”
REACHING THE LIMITS But there is scepticism that every expansion and new build announced will actually happen. “Some of the stuff that has been announced will inevitably fall by the wayside, through financial backing, through planning, through being used for alternative uses, and so on,” says Rob Page, Commercial Director at Manchester’s Space Studios, whose facility is
we’re going to end up being one of the largest film and tv content making centres on Earth
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televisual.com Summer 2021
building two new stages at its site. “So, if everything is built that’s been announced, we would hopefully then reach having enough capacity in the UK to meet the demand. The reality is I don’t see absolutely everything coming off.” And the reality is it’s a lot tougher to build
long term studios than many new entrants to the market think. Time+Space Studios’ Read’s plans are for “studios with a range of complimentary and supporting services to deliver a creative environment. We believe this delivers a more sustainable operation that talks to the requirements of the modern-day producers. With the food and beverage offering and concierge style accommodation we are modernising and professionalising the experience of working in a UK studio.” Productions don’t just need space, says Location
Collective’s Iredale. “For the high-end TV and especially a feature film market. they don’t just need stage space; they need tens of thousands of square feet of support space” as well as parking and the right geographical location. Those planning on just opening an empty warehouse may make hay while the sun is currently shining, but as more high spec studios come online, this market might fall away. “You can’t just take any warehouse in London and expect to make a success of it,” says Iredale. “You’ve got to spend millions of pounds to turn a warehouse
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