Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.
The purchase of Shepperton Studios by Pinewood gave rise to The Pinewood Studios Group with both UK and international interests including Shepperton Studios, Teddington Studios, Pinewood Toronto Studios, Pinewood Indomina Studios, Pinewood Studio Berlin and Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios.
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Pinewood Studios was built on the estate of Heatherden Hall, which was used as a meeting place for various politicians and diplomats. In fact, the promise to create the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed at Heatherden.
In 1934, building tycoon Charles Boot bought the land and turned it into a country club. Millionaire J. Arthur Rank created a partnership with Boot, and together, transformed the estate into a film studio. They drew their inspiration from the movie studios of Hollywood, with Boot officially named Pinewood, because "...of the number of trees which grow there and because it seemed to suggest something of the American film centre in its second syllable."
The partnership between these two powerful men eventually led to the formation of the Rank Organisation. The company owned the studio until 1995, when The Rank Group was formed to take over all assets of the company, including (but limited to) Pinewood Studios.
On 30 September 1936, the Studios were officially opened which was met by a very prolific part of Pinewood's history. That is until the depression hit the UK film industry.
Shortly after taking control of the Studios, The Rank Group sold Pinewood to a group led by Michael Grade and Ivan Dunleavy.
Since then Pinewood Studios acquired Shepperton Studios to create The Pinewood Studios Group and later purchased Teddington Studios, combining three studios steeped in heritage and prestige.[1]
In 2009, Pinewood and Shepperton received a BAFTA for their Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.[2]
The world's most famous film stage, the 007 Stage, was originally built for the 1977 Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me and featured a massive water tank, one of the largest in Europe.[3] The stage burnt to the ground in 1984; it was rebuilt four months later and renamed Albert R. Broccoli's 007 Stage in time for filming to commence on A View to a Kill.[4] Another fire on 30 July 2006 seriously damaged the stage, causing the roof to partly cave in.[5][6] Construction of a new stage began on 18 September and was completed in under six months.[7] Since then, the stage has accommodated huge productions including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Quantum of Solace (2008) and the whole fishing village from Mamma Mia! (2008) was built on the stage.
As well as the world famous 007 Stage, which is the largest stage at any of the studios under The Pinewood Studios Group at a whopping 59,000 sq ft, the studio has fifteen other stages ranging from just 1,728 sq ft to cater for productions of all sizes. One of those studios is currently
being built, T Stage, will be a specialist stage for both television and film productions and the Studios second largest stage at 30,000 sq ft.[8]
The studio also has two specialist TV studios, aptly named TV One and TV Two, complete with integral galleries, TV studio floors, TV lighting grids and SD or HD facilities. Both studios stand at just under 9,000 sq ft.
As stated earlier, Pinewood is situated on the old estate of Heatherden Hall which still stands tall today. The mansion, its gardens and other parts of the studios have been used in various productions over the years. Peeping Tom (1960) shows people driving out through the main gate and has various shots in the studios (showing things behind the camera), offices & corridors. Return to the Edge of the World (1978) includes shots of director Michael Powell driving into the studio. Heatherden Hall (originally converted to production offices but later restored and hired out for events) has appeared in several films: it was made to look fire-damaged and derelict for the 1972 children's film The Amazing Mr Blunden and also appeared as the Indian residence of Governor Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond in Carry On up the Khyber.
The studios have acres upon acres of backlots where huge sets can and have been built, from castles to whole villages including Godric's Hollow from the Harry Potter film series.
The proximity of the ancient woodland Burnham Beeches to Pinewood (as well as to Shepperton and Bray studios) and the outstanding natural beauty of the forest have made Burnham Beeches a desirable filming location for productions being filmed at Pinewood. Burnham Beeches has been used for a large number of films, including Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, First Knight, Goldfinger, The Princess Bride, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and many other films and TV productions which have made use of the facilities on offer at the Beeches. Several of these films productions were based at Pinewood. (For a more comprehensive list, see [1].)
Pinewood has extensive water filming facilities including the globally unique Underwater Stage and a huge Exterior Tank backed with a massive green screen measuring 240 ft x 60 ft.
Pinewood and Shepperton's FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) accredited [9] post production departments are very successful with a BAFTA and OSCAR winning team.
In November 2007, Pinewood announced a £200m expansion plan, known as Project Pinewood.[10] If built the development would see replicas of streetscapes and zones replicating locations from the UK, Europe and the USA. Planned zones include a college campus, Amsterdam, modern European housing, Venice, Lake Como, Paris, an Amphitheatre, Prague, West coast American housing, warehousing and downtown New York sets, Chicago, Vienna, a castle, a UK canal, Chinatown and a London street market built.[11] In addition it will also be used as residential housing, with the proposed creative community, expected to be in the region of 2000 and 2250, being integrated with the film locations. Job creation is also a key part of the plan, helping to boost the economy of both the region and the nation as a whole[11]
Following consultations with the local community the plans changed to reflect the community's opinions and suggestions. However, the planning application was still rejected by South Bucks District Council in October 2009, following a prolonged opposition campaign by local residents, who formed a "Stop Project Pinewood" group.
Pinewood have since appealed the decision and a public inquiry commenced on 5 April 2011[12]. The outcome of the inquiry has not yet been published.
Since its beginning, Pinewood Studios has been the location for many well-known films, with the long-running James Bond and Carry On British film series making Pinewood their home.
Some of the most notable Pinewood productions (by release date) include:
1930s–1950s
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1960s–1970s
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1980s–1990s
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2000s–2010s
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