Beaconsfield Film Studios is a British TV and film studio in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The studios were operational as a production site for films from the 1930's and continued producing films - and, later, TV shows - until the 1960's. Britain's first talking movie was recorded there, as were films starring British actors Peter Sellers and John Mills. From 1971 onwards it has been the home of an internationally-recognised postgraduate school for film and TV production, famous as the birth place of animated characters Wallace and Gromit.
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The likely first name of the studios was British Lion Studios, in the late 1930's. At least three films are confirmed [1] as having been produced at British Lion Studios in Beaconsfield during this era:-
Due to World War II, the GPO Film Unit became the Crown Film Unit. The present occupiers of Beaconsfield Film Studios, the It has been have confirmed[2] that the CFU was based at the studios. Fifty one productions are credited to the Crown Film Unit between 1940 and 1952 - when it was disbanded - although it is not known how many were physically filmed at Beaconsfield Film Studios.
Full list of Crown Film Unit productions, at IMDB
After the Crown Film Unit was disbanded, the studios became Independent Artist Studios, and was the base for film production company Independent Artists for several films, including:-
Several other films and TV shows are confirmed[3] by IMDB as having been produced at IAS by other film production companies.
Full list of TV and film productions filmed at Independent Artists Studios, Beaconsfield, at IMDB
It is likely that the production company 'Beaconsfield Productions', credited as producing The Vicious Circle, filmed other titles at IAS. IMDB lists a further sixteen productions credited to Beaconsfield Productions in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
The studios are now exclusively the home of an internationally respected film school, the National Film and Television School, whose alumni have won several BAFTA awards and Oscars.
The NFS was created in 1970 and in 1971 bought the studios to be its home, thanks to a loan from the Rank Organisation, producers of the Carry On film series and owners at the time of the nearby Pinewood Studios.
It was renamed the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in 1982. The first Wallace and Gromit film, A Grand Day Out was started by Oscar winning director Nick Park whilst he was a student at NFTS, and like all works created at the school, the film is credited as being the copyright of NFTS.
NFTS students still use the original 1930's sound stage and 1960's TV studio building. To modernise and expand the teaching and administrative space, it commissioned Glen Howells Architects to design a strikingly modern two storey building (see photo). Upon its completion in 2008 it won a coveted RIBA prize.[4] In June 2009 it was formally named The Oswald Morris Building in honour of veteran cinematographer Ossie Morris.