Hollywood turns to Dagenham in £300m bet on studio space
Derelict industrial site in east London to be transformed into film production hub
One of Hollywood’s biggest property developers is turning a derelict east London industrial estate into a film and television production hub, as the boom in UK studios development continues despite the pandemic.
Hackman Capital Partners, the owner of storied US studios where Citizen Kane and ET were filmed, has agreed to put £300m over three years into transforming the site in Dagenham.
Darren Rodwell, the leader of Barking and Dagenham council, said an area known for “factories and Fords” would be “famous for making films”. “It’s not for the glamour or the glory, it is about bringing in thousands of jobs,” he said.
The Eastbrook Studios site will include 12 sound stages, spread over 11 acres — giving it roughly two-thirds the capacity of Pinewood, one of the UK’s oldest and most established production sites. Eastbrook is expected to be completed by 2023, with some filming starting as early as mid-2022.
The move is part of a flurry of dealmaking and investment in studio space over the past two years, with Walt Disney, Netflix and Sky signing deals to secure prized studio facilities to cope with an expected surge in production.
Weeks before the spread of Covid-19, Blackhall Studios, an Atlanta-based company that has seen films such as Jumanji: The Next Level filmed at its site, announced it was developing a new production centre in the Berkshire town of Reading.
Netflix has established a production hub at Pinewood’s Shepperton Studios, while Disney has signed a long-term lease at Pinewood Studios. In December, Sky also announced plans to build new facilities near the Elstree Studios, north of London, where the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones films were shot.
The Eastbrook project is a coup for Mr Rodwell, who took a significant political and financial gamble in 2016 with a promise to turn the ramshackle old May & Baker chemical factory into “the next global destination for making blockbuster movies”.
Ignoring doubters, the council bet £40m to buy the land and put through planning permission for studios, making the site more attractive for investors. Hackman will hold a 250-year lease on the site, which will be operated by a subsidiary, The MBS Group.
The vision for a film studios has survived two big shocks. Pacifica Ventures, the original investors in the project, pulled out last year citing uncertainty over Brexit. The pandemic then hit just as the council and its regeneration arm Be First were scouting for new investors.
Even before the studios investment, Dagenham has aggressively targeted the industry through a film unit that sold the borough as a film location. It has hosted blockbuster productions including Marvel’s Black Widow and Doctor Strange.
Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, described the project as a “special moment” for Dagenham that would create 1,200 jobs.
Hackman owns some of America’s most well-known studios complexes, including Culver Studios in Los Angeles and Silvercup Studios in New York, where The Sopranos was shot.
Michael Hackman, chief executive, said — referring to a 2010 film starring Sally Hawkins and Bob Hoskins: “Our investment will help write the script for the next iteration of Made in Dagenham.”