Credit: Everett Collection Inc
Little Marlow doesn’t scream “a galaxy far, far away”. The leafy Buckinghamshire village may boast River Thames walks and nearby Michelin-starred restaurants, but it has always been somewhat lacking in vast desert landscapes and alien terrain.
Now, though, an otherworldly civilisation appears to have taken root. Since the start of the year, a field just a stone’s throw from the river has been transformed into a scorched retro-futuristic city. “It’s absolutely bonkers,” says one excited local. “I was just going for a walk over the weekend and realised the new Star Wars spin-off was being filmed right there.”
Disney is among a string of major streaming companies piling into the UK. Households signed up for 12 million more streaming subscription packages in Britain alone last year.
Netflix added 37 million global subscribers in 2020, while Disney has amassed more than 95 million.
Among the biggest hits on streaming services have been dramas shot in the UK, with titles such as Bridgerton, The Crown and The Witcher all attracting huge audiences.
Demand for UK TV and film has never been greater, says James Burstall, a producer and the chief executive of Argonon, the company behind The Masked Singer. Interest is not just driven by the UK’s tax relief on high-end TV production, or even the lack of a language barrier with US firms – but also by the expertise here.
“Frankly, if you want to work in the creative industry, there is one place in the world which is an absolute must to go, and that’s the United Kingdom” says Burstall.
Season two of The Witcher is being filmed partly in the UK
Credit: Katalin Vermes
The giants appear to agree. In November, Netflix said it was hiking its spend on UK productions by 50pc to £750m for 2020. Even as the pandemic caused filming to shut down for months, a total of £2.8bn was spent in the country making high-end TV and film – of which £2.36bn came from overseas companies.
But there is still a significant hurdle facing the industry – a lack of decent filming locations. “We have a dearth of quality stage space in this country,” says Jeremy Rainbird, a partner at studio developer the Creative District Improvement Company.
Well-known locations such as Shepperton Studios and the Pinewood site – home of James Bond – are already booked up, with Netflix and Disney agreeing long-term deals.
A large part of the iconic Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire has been booked out by Disney for the next ten years.
Credit: Ben Cawthra
According to property consultant CBRE, streaming firms and production companies are hunting for around two million sq ft of studio space across the UK.
A number of sites are going through planning, but experts say it will be at least four years until many are built. Right now, many are feeling the squeeze.
“We’re seeing that you have to book many months in advance to get your hands on studio space,” Burstall says.
Covid-19 has presented a fresh hurdle. Whilst many productions have been allowed to continue since last summer, subject to strict restrictions and Covid-19 testing, it has meant shows are taking longer to make – and what space there is in the UK is booked out for larger periods of time.
“Ultimately, it’s about keeping people safe and that adds time,” says Rainbird. “Over the actual shooting day, you’re achieving less, which means you’re now having to shoot more days.” He says at his company’s production studios in Twickenham, they have been “absolutely flat out since June”.
Phoebe Dynevor, left, and Rege-Jean Page in a scene from Netflix's Bridgerton
Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix
All this pressure is driving rents across London higher. “Theoretically, the rate card on a 20,000 sq ft stage is approximately £40,000 a week,” Rainbird says. “People aren’t necessarily having to pay that unless it’s unfortunate timing and they’ve got no other choice. But it’s fair to say the rates of studio sites are going up.”
Now production crews are having to look at alternative options. For some, this means looking further afield, outside the “golden halo” of the M25.
Others are using temporary studios. “A lot of complexes are turning to this,” one property insider says. Instead of a lengthy building process, these sites can be built in as little as three months, and can last for up to 15 years.
Even the Troubadour Meridian Water Studios describes its stages as “temporary” structures in planning documents. “When it comes to renting this out for filming, they’ll be making a hell of a lot more than they would be if this was traditional warehouse space. It would be something like more than double.”
Some streaming giants have even started to look at logistics facilities which have the potential to become a set, competing against the likes of Amazon to strike a deal for sprawling warehouse space they can transform into high-tech sound stages. Last month, Netflix held talks to take new production space at a 230,000 sq ft warehouse development in Enfield.
Apple is understood to be planning to film in two logistics facilities at Symmetry Park, Aston Clinton in Aylesbury, with a deal having been struck between Tritax and California-based production support specialist MBS.
“What they ideally want is a big space where they can create stages, offices where they can do pre- and post-production, and then a lot of yard space around it,” one property expert says. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly the same as logistics.”
This is because, where warehouse operators are happy to take sites for 15 years, streaming companies really only want to sign a one-year lease. What this means is that, to land those sites, they are having to pay a significant premium. “Even if you pay double the rent, the landlord will still prefer 15 years of guaranteed rent, over two years or one of higher rent,” an insider explains.
Production firms and streaming giants are starting to agree to longer leases, of three, five or seven years at inflated rents – something which comes with extra risk if series are not commissioned or there aren’t productions to fill that space.
Still, even though many major firms are finding ways to make content in the UK, there are growing concerns that cash could be diverted elsewhere if hiked rents and longer deals are the only way to secure production sites. CBRE warned that the shortage was holding back growth.
But Rainbird says it is worse than that. “Some are already going overseas for sure,” he says. “If we don’t build more spaces, we are going to start losing all of that inward investment.”
Britain may be a hive of activity for filming now, with the likes of Disney taking over small villages to transform them into intergalactic cities. But, as sites become more scarce and the big players look abroad, Little Marlow and fellow filming locations may slip back into rural tranquility. “It’s a very dangerous position,” says Rainbird.
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