12/06/2012 - £100 million facility to account for a third of UK production

The Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden studio (photo) has officially opened for business. The £100 million facility, based just outside Watford, Hertfordshire, will see around a third of total UK production based there. The studio is an expensive signpost of Hollywood’s inexorable presence in Britain and is the only film studio in the country owned by Hollywood.

The new studio is spread across a secure 200-acre site and houses a collection of some of the largest sound stages in the UK spanning over a quarter of a million square feet, including one of the largest heated underwater filming tanks in Europe. In addition, the site provides a clear horizon 100-acre back-lot.

Josh Berger, President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. UK, Ireland and Spain, said: “Alongside a growing UK film, TV and games production slate, the opening of Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden clearly demonstrates the company’s commitment to the UK and underlines our belief in the world-class talent that resides on these shores. As well as helping to generate inward investment and create new jobs both locally and nationally, this significant infrastructure outlay – probably the single biggest the UK film industry has witnessed in decades – will further amplify the UK’s reputation as the go-to place for film and TV production.”

Roy Button OBE, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. Productions Ltd, added, “Back in 2000, we produced just one movie here in the UK, last year it was seven, so by adding this important resource to the UK’s studio landscape we are helping to meet not just our own production needs, but those of the wider thriving British film industry.”