Disneys decision to take over the majority of Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire will be a major concern for BBC and ITV as the companies fight for attention and space for filming.
The studio is the biggest in the world and is home to Marvel, LucasFilm, Pixar, and 20th Century Fox; it will lease 20 stages plus other facilities at the Buckinghamshire studio which has been the long-time home of the James Bond films.
As well as movies, it is thought Disney will film many of their upcoming Disney+ shows at the legendary studios as well.
But with BBC and ITV increasing their output of original TV, and Netflix moving into Shepperton Studios, it is thought that there will be an overwhelming threat as the studios now have to compete not only for attention, but for space to film in too.
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The challenge for the UK production industry is supply keeping up with demand – the only thing threatening to hold this industry back is the limited studio space available, said Gavin Smith, Relationship Director for Tech and Media at Barclays Business Banking.
Yet despite concerns that the move may force other companies to look elsewhere – it is not yet known if the James Bond films will continue to film at Pinewood – Smith believes that the move will see the entirety of the UK impacted for the better.
We predict that other areas in the UK will benefit from the presence of these online streaming giants, as filming hotspots crop up in Scotland and Wales, and Media City in Manchester continues to grow its expertise in the creative industry.
Disneys move to Pinewood means all three subscription goliaths – Netflix, Amazon and Disney – now have a presence in the UK, and thats only going to benefit the wider UK TV and Film industry, he continued.
It threatens to be a battle of Game of Thrones magnitude, and Disney are marking their territory by taking a firm grip on one of the UKs premier studios.
The domino effect of this move should be overwhelmingly positive in terms of jobs. Disney, Netflix and Amazon have shown little restraint when it comes to budgets, and their spending power dwarfs the mainstream distributors that have typically powered the UK production industry.
There is likely to be a domino effect as these American goliaths spend their huge budgets on the ideas and concepts that small UK businesses are producing.
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When the pie expands theres more slices to go around, and small production companies in the UK will now have direct access to SVOD decision makers for the first time.
Twelve of the last 22 Marvel movies have filmed at Pinewood Studios globally including Buckinghamshire and the state of Georgia.
In May however Disney joined with others including Netflix in confirming they may drop all filming in Georgia should the state government enact a strict new abortion law.
Theyve been making great films with us for many years and the fact they want to shoot so many more here is testimony not only to the quality of the teams and infrastructure at Pinewood but also to the British film industry as a whole, said Pinewood GRead More – Source
