Elstree Studios to celebrate 85th birthday amidst expansion

December 2011

Elstree Studios has firmly established itself as London’s No.1 Film and Television Studio and also a major competitor for the UK’s largest Studio, Pinewood. Not only are major television shows produced at Elstree such as the latest Big Brother for Channel 5, Dancing on Ice for ITV, television specials such as Michael Buble; Home for Christmas and children’s shows such as The Slammer for the BBC but also major feature films such as Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows starring Jude Law and Robert Downey Jnr, Brian Singer’s Jack The Giant Killer, Hyde Park on Hudson with Bill Murray and of course multi award winning The King’s Speech starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.

The studios are also very popular for commercials. The proximity to central London, cost effective travel (and if necessary accommodation), means that artists can be working in central London and Elstree Studios at the same time.

With a host of new features signed for the New Year and new television spectaculars, Elstree Studios looks set to become the studio of choice for a lot of major producers.

Elstree Studios intends to reinforce its position in the market place with two more new stages sized and priced for today’s market place, new production suites and workshops and an expansion of the Elstree Studios Media Village.

So why Elstree? In the words of Roger Morris, Elstree Studios Managing Director, “It’s quite simple really. We’re convenient for central London – just 25 minutes away by rail from Kings Cross. This year First Capital Connect, the train provider, even named a train Elstree Studios in recognition of Elstree’s importance to London. It’s also at the bottom of the M1 and A1, four minutes from the M25 and serviced by two airports – Luton and Heathrow.

Located in Borehamwood Elstree, the Studios have excellent access to the local amenities for lumber, building materials, shops, restaurants, hotels and bars. In fact there are five hotels within five minutes of the studios ranging from 3 star to four star with a five star hotel just 15 minutes away.

The studios has access to 800 car parking spaces, special entrances for audiences, event hall for audience holding and extensive on site catering plus space for film trailers and heavy good vehicles.

The seven stages range from 5,000sq ft. to 16,000sq ft. with two of the best stages in Europe, both of which have a working height of 50ft. and excellent grid loading and power.

The studios philosophy is to always ensure that we offer very competitive rates and the studios fully support established and burgeoning British film makers.

The new post production facilities that Elstree has invested in will formally open in January 2012 offering digital lab type facilities, avid media composer editing, high quality audio mixing to finishing. This compliments the other services on site which include lighting from Elstree Light and Power (credits include Question Time, Strictly Come Dancing, John Carter from Mars), special effects with Lifecast (credits include Black Hawk Down, XMen), speciality and period cars from MGM Action Vehicle Suppliers (credits include Kick Ass, XMen) and Media Powerhouse who produce and facilitate large scale events and set building. The Media Village also has its own casting company, APM Associates, run by Linda French, script services with Sapex who are credited on numerous major films, Applause Store are also in the village providing audiences for XFactor, Britain’s Got Talent and Top Gear and many other service providers, all who can be seen on our website.

So, at Elstree you have a conveniently located internationally famous Studio, easy to get to, easy to work with, first class stages and supporting facilities plus a great Media Village community that are able to provide you with all the backup services behind the camera.

The Studios celebrate their 85^th Birthday this year, along with the anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock films, such as Blackmail; the first British talkie filmed at Elstree Studios, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s Star Wars film series and the Indiana Jones trilogy.”

ELSTREE STUDIOS – LONDON’S INTERNATIONAL FILM AND TELEVISION STUDIO.