UK FILM STUDIOS
PRODUCTION
the crown
into a facility that has a specification that will appeal to that type of customer.” Any shortcuts in spec will mean “in three- or four-years’ time, when a lot of the off-the-ground stuff comes into the marketplace, productions are going to have their pick of facility. At that time, you don’t want to have picked the wrong warehouse and under cooked the specification because you’re just going to be like the last chicken in Sainsbury’s.” With so many plans in the offing, there is now
talk that we may end up with over capacity. “People have started talking about the so-called saturation,” says Read, but “presently there is approximately 3 million square feet of space available here in the UK. About 50% of that is what we define as subprime studio space, so-called set build space without any of the trimmings, so in essence there is only 1.5m square feet of turnkey studio space. That is essentially already being used so is off the market. We estimate the shortfall is in fact closer to double that, especially as demand continues to increase. This is where the opportunity sits.” Also, says Read, “Bear in mind Pinewood and
Shepperton have effectively been taken off the market (due to exclusive leases to Netflix and Disney) and likewise the big existing and planned sites like Leavesden and NBC / Sky Elstree are highly likely to be filled by their own productions. So, there is
a debate as to how much new capacity they will create.” But the UK will continue to attract work to
its shores, says Wootton. “If you talk to those in the States, they’ll say to you, ‘your tax credits are brilliant. You have an incredibly competitive and clear and transparent system in operation.’ They love working with the talent, they love the infrastructure, they admire and respect the visual effects. And so they know they’re going to get a package that really is second to none. And so we’ve just got to keep pushing the envelope.” And studio operators will deliver for that demand.
But the studios market is being changed by the changed nature of that demand from incoming
i think there will be pressure on space
despite these expansions
2 with Sound Theatre 1 to follow as part of the site’s £15m redevelopment works. April ‘21 Property developer Bidwells submits plans for Hertswood Studios on a 90-acre site near Sky Studios Elstree and Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. Plans are for 1m sq. ft of stage space across 21 stages. March ‘21 New Liverpool studio space The Depot starts taking bookings. The Depot is a temporary facility to capitalise on the current demand for studio space until the nearby Littlewoods studios scheme is complete. March ‘21 Barking and Dagenham Council agrees a further deal with Hackman Capital Partners (HCP) on a another state-of-the-art studio in the east London borough. HCP and Square Mile Capital had already announced plans to build Eastbrook Studios – the capital’s largest film and TV production centre – in Dagenham. Eastbrook Studios London will have up to 12 sound stages. The studio will be fully operational by 2023. March ‘21 New west London studio facility, Garden Studios, expands by a further 65,000 sq. ft, providing a total of 127,000 sq. ft of studio space, more than double the original site. The new site has two shooting spaces (totalling 40,000 sq. ft) and a 16,000 sq. ft workshop. This is in addition to the already existing three soundstages, three shooting spaces, four
Summer 2021
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