Lights, camera, action: DQ visits Pinewood Studios
Could high-end television dramas soon be filmed at the world-famous Pinewood Studios? Chairman Michael Grade tells DQ about Pinewood’s small-screen ambitions. It’s considered the home of James Bond and was the location for filming The Da Vinci Code, Prometheus, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – and a little film called Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And now, buoyed by a blockbuster movie business and the increasing demand for high-end television drama, Pinewood Studios is setting its sights on the small screen. With 37 stages set in 100 acres just a short train ride from central London, the sprawling studio last year won a long planning battle to double its size with a new 100,000 square-metre development, costing £200m (US$302m) and taking place over the next 15 years. The plans include 10 new studios and stages, workshops and street scenes for filming. The scale of the project is all the more impressive considering that Pinewood was close to closure when a consortium led by chairman Michael Grade and CEO Ivan Dunleavy acquired the studios in the late 1990s. “The night before we were due to sign (the takeover deal), it was disclosed that the only film booked had cancelled,” recalls Lord Grade. “There wasn’t one film booked. This place was a ghost ship. Fortunately, our financiers weren’t fazed by that. There was a renegotiation and we inherited a business that had no bookings. The order book was absolutely empty. “Here we are 14 years later and we’ve got businesses all round … Continue reading Lights, camera, action: DQ visits Pinewood Studios
