£700m Hollywood studio to be built in Hertfordshire

Sunset Studios have announced their plans to build a ‘world-class’ film and TV studio in the UK. 

£700m Hollywood studio to be built in Hertfordshire

The owners of Sunset Studios in Los Angeles and an investment firm have bought a 91-acre site in Hertfordshire for £120m. 

Subject to planning permission, the production centre would be built in Broxbourne.

The government said it was "supporting" the development of such stage spaces across the UK. 

The companies anticipated it would "contribute £300m annually to the local economy" and could create up to 4,500 jobs. Lewis Cocking, leader of Broxbourne Borough Council, said it was a "fantastic opportunity" for the area. "Creative industries are of strategic importance to us and the creation of 4,500 permanent new jobs and the associated boost to the local economy is just what we need following the pandemic," he said. 

Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: "This new studio is yet another vote of confidence in the UK's booming film and TV industry. Through the British Film Commission, we're supporting the development of stage spaces like this across the UK - boosting the local economy and backing our world-class creatives to make the next Bond blockbuster or binge worthy box set." 

It would be the first expansion of the Sunset Studios brand outside the United States, which has been home to film productions such as When Harry Met Sally, Zoolander and La La Land.

The area has already been utilised by the independent Elstree Studios, where Paddington, Netflix series The Crown and the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing are filmed, as well as the BBC’s own Elstree studio, which is home to EastEnders. 

International film and high-end TV production spending in the UK topped £2.34bn in 2020, according to the British Film Commission (BFC), the agency responsible for attracting film and TV productions. 

Header Image Credit: Photo by Pedro Marroquin on Unsplash

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