SHINFIELD STUDIOS INDUSTRY.
companies that will support production activity on the studio lot.” As a direct comparison to Pinewood, Shinfield is about the same size as before the former started its expansion. It’s much bigger than Shepperton – before its own expansion that’s about to get underway. So in terms of where Shinfield Studios will sit in the UK hierarchy, Pinewood will remain the biggest, with Shepperton close behind assuming it builds out. After that is Leavesden, then Shinfield. That’s some heady company.
company was able to make Pinewood even bigger. Some amazing things have been achieved since we left, so it has
worked out for everybody.” TURN AFTER READING
After Smith and his team severed ties with Pinewood, they set out looking for land on which they could develop a brand-new studio complex. The brief was simple: Smith wanted to be west of London, with at least 50 acres at his disposal. It took them a couple of years to find and lease the land in Shinfield, a small Berkshire village in the shadows of the University of Reading, and within spitting distance of Heathrow Airport. “We started looking in 2017, and it took a couple of years, but I managed to find it and secure funding – and now we’re halfway through the build,” Smith says. “We came up with the idea before anyone was thinking this is the sector to get into. And it was just obvious when you think about it.” On completion, the new locale will house 18 brand-new, purpose-built sound stages, workshops and a post-production cinema. Moreover, they will all be set in a modern work environment that Smith says is large enough to accommodate even the largest blockbuster movie and television productions. “We welcome companies to base themselves here,” Smith adds. “We don’t have the space today, but going forward, we very much intend to have a hub – a full infrastructure and network of
Fact File
WIGGLE ROOM Shinfield will have one million sq ft of studio space, with a nine-acre filming backlot and 20,000+ sq ft of production workshops
LOOKING AHEAD Smith foresaw a boom of streaming companies needing space to create their own features
47. FEBRUARY 2023
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