MOVE over Hollywood – the Thames Valley is taking over.
A new 120,000 sq ft of studio space is to be created at Winnersh Triangle in a blockbuster deal that will see blockbuster movies made at the popular business park.
It includes the world’s largest fully encapsulated virtual production (VP) stage, making it easier to produce amazing films with eye-popping special effects.
The stage easily fuses computing graphics with live-action footage in real-time, and such set-ups have been used in some of the Marvel Universe films.
Production company Stage Fifty has signed a deal with Winnersh Triangle’s owners Frasers Property UK for the movie-making space, which will be supported by 25,000 sq ft of offices and 50,000 sq ft of workshops.
Stage Fifty says it specialises in providing the film and TV industry with purpose-built studio space and innovative production services.
It will start using Winnersh Triangle with immediate effect, with the workshop space and offices for production use, and the first bespoke sound stages to be opened next year.
Rupert Batho, commercial director of Frasers Property, was delighted to see the new studios come to Winnersh Triangle.
“The diversity of accommodation at Winnersh Triangle, combined with our market-leading facilities and integrated transport infrastructure, has been at the heart of attracting Stage Fifty,” he said.
“It joins the likes of Pip Studios, Virgin Media and Evertz, thus expanding our technology-enriched, creative industry cluster and provides the film industry with much-needed capacity here in the UK.
“This is a transformational step in the continued evolution of Winnersh Triangle as one of the Thames Valley’s most dynamic economic areas.”
Stage Fifty feels that the move is the perfect fit for its growth plans. IT aims to create at least one million sq ft of production space, or 50 sound stages, over the next three years.
“Winnersh Triangle is the perfect site for our second film studio in the UK,” explained James Enright, the company’s CEO.
“In partnership with Fin Studio Pictures, we’re building the world’s largest VP volume, which will be the centrepiece of our pioneering creative tech hub.
“We have offices and workshops in use now for pre-production, and the stages will be operational next year.”
For the deal, Frasers Property UK was represented by CBRE & Hollis Hockley, and Stage Fifty / Winnersh Film Studios by Haslams.
