THE company building a new studio in Shinfield insists it is an attractive location for major US film production companies and one of them is interested in shooting “a very well-known movie franchise series” there.
This week, Shinfield Studios was granted planning permission to set up a film studio – with four sound stages and four workshops – in Thames Valley Science Park for five years.
Nick Smith, managing director of Shinfield Studios, said the film and television production industry in the UK “is booming” but there is “an acute shortage” of studio space to meet the demand from companies like Disney, Netflix and Amazon.
He said around 1.8 million sq ft of studio space will be needed in the UK by 2025.
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According to the company’s planning statement, it has already been approached by several US film production companies that are looking for studio space near London.
Shinfield Studio says it is being “strongly encouraged” to develop new facilities within easy access of the capital that are “on a similar scale to Pinewood studios”.
The planning statement reads: “Proximity to London offers a number of benefits that are critical for large scale productions, including the close location of a robust film supply chain, marketing agencies, visual effects and post-production specialists, and a vast array of niche businesses that provide specialist production equipment for hire.”
It adds: “In Autumn 2020, one of the largest production companies enquired about making a very well-known movie franchise series at the Thames Valley Science Park site.
Shinfield Studios wants to build a new studio at Thames Valley Science Park
“Their schedule is around 12 months, but filming must start in the summer of 2021 in order to meet the planned release date.
“The proposed site on land south of Cutbush Lane and the Gateway 4 plot at Thames Valley Science Park, is the only suitable option with the potential capacity to produce this series in the UK.
“The alternative is that the production will be moved to Los Angeles.”
The project is part of long-term vision for a ‘Cine Valley’ at Thames Valley Science Park, with a £200 million hub that provides 442,000sq ft of studio space and 560,000sq ft of office and workshop space.
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Shinfield Studios was launched in 2020, after Los Angeles based film studio investor Commonwealth Real Estate LP agreed a deal with University of Reading, to build studios and a creative media campus at the science park.
The university has also applied for planning permission to build a permanent TV studio – with enough seats for an audience of 550 people – at the science park in Shinfield. It hopes to open that studio in 2022.
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