British Cinematographer issue 51 - Imago

British Cinematographer
Covering International Cinematography
www.britishcinematographer.co.uk
Issue 051 ––– May 2012 26
Film factory... the former Rolls
Royce engine plant has
been converted into a huge,
covered multi-function area for
productions.
Visions... Roy Button and Dan
Dark are two of the key figures at
Warners who helped make WBSL
a reality.
Backlot... a view of the new
studios taken from the expansive
backlot.
With the main entrance under construction, our
entry was by a tarmac’d service road, with a pleasant
greeting by the frozen, but friendly, security staff, to
whom we offered a much-appreciated Licorice Allsort.
Driving in, the size and scale of the site are both
immediate and impressive. Covering around 200 acres,
WBSL comprises nine brand-new soundstages, offering
approximately half a million square ft of shooting
space, including a 60x60x20ft water stage. Along with
copious production offices, workshops, a productionrental
facility, and substantial free parking, there’s also
a 100-acre backlot. It’s a truly vast area, with a clear
horizon and open skies, which cinematographers will
appreciate. Amongst the JCBs and diggers parked
there, it was possible to spy one of the purple tripledecker
buses, used in Harry Potter And The Prisoner of
Azkaban, languishing way-off in the distance.
Two soundstages (amusingly J and K stages) have
been opened to the public as the Warner Bros. Studio
Tour London — The Making Of Harry Potter. This is a
permanent showcase of the many impressive sets, props
and secrets behind the movie franchise that shot at
Leavesden for a decade. Over a warming cup of tea
and more Allsorts, in a prefab that Dark and his team
have occupied during the build, we were given the
elevator pitch for the new studios.
“This new facility is built and operated by filmmakers,
for filmmakers,” said Dark. “Over the years, we adapted
the site to suit the needs of Harry Potter, and learnt a lot
from that experience. But before construction began
on the new facility, we took a step back and looked at
what productions require now and what they are likely
to need in the future, and built to those expectations.
Along with the experiences we’ve had, there is a wealth
of experience at Burbank. Filmmaking is what Warner
Bros. is all about, and there is a massive benefit in that.”
He then appraised us of the history of the place, and
some of the players within Warner’s who have brought
the project to fruition.
Its history began when the site was originally
acquired by the Ministry of Defence in 1939 as a
production base and aerodrome for thousands of
aircraft, including the Mosquito Fighter and Halifax
Bombers. When WWII ended, the site was bought by
Rolls Royce and continued as a base for aircraft engine
manufacture. The factory eventually closed in 1992.
However, the gates opened again in 1994 when
Leavesden began a new lease of life as a film studio,
under Dark’s auspices as studio manager. He oversaw
the conversion of the disused engine factory into a
soundstage for Eon Productions’ Goldeneye. Eon leased
the buildings from Rolls Royce before the site was bought
by Millennium, a Malaysian consortium that had plans
to create a working studio, theme park and studio
tour. Although these plans never came to fruition, Dark
accommodated several productions, notably Star Wars:
Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace, Sleepy Hollow and
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Millennium sold the site to
UK-based property development company MEPC in
1999. It was around this time that Warner’s negotiated a
long-term lease, and Leavesden became the home of
Harry Potter, until the final installment Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows Part 2 completed filming in 2010. That’s
when Warner Bros. decided to buy the site entirely and
redevelop it from scratch, at a cost of around £100m.
Roy Button OBE DL Hertfordshire, is the executive VP
and managing director of Warner Bros. Prod Ltd, and
has worked in the UK film industry for 43 years. He was a
key driving force to Warner Bros.’ investment in WBSL to
create Europe’s largest studio, solely owned and run by
Warner Bros. It is the largest investment by a Hollywood
studio for the last 50 years, in the UK. MGM set up MGM
London Films at Elstree Studios in the early 1940s. Dark,
along with Button, persuaded Warner Bros. to invest
in the UK, pushing this through from initial conception,
through planning permission, through to the final formal
announcement in November 2010.
In his capacity as head of physical production for
Warner Bros. Productions Limited, Button is responsible for
all Warner Bros. films based out of the UK, Europe, Africa
and the Middle East. This includes the responsibility for
the setting up of each film (crew, budget, production
schedule, locations, product placement etc), including
all film rebate methods in each country where available,
and how to position each project to qualify for cultural
tests and corporate structure.
Whilst Leavesden was being redeveloped, Button
oversaw six tentpole Warner pictures shooting in
the UK at other studios and on location, including
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (Shepperton/
Elstree), The Dark Knight Rises (Cardington), Dark
Shadows (Pinewood), Jack The Giant Killer (Longcross /
Elstree), Wrath Of The Titans (Shepperton) and Gravity
(Shepperton). He is also responsible for bringing a further
six major motion pictures to the country which will span
through 2012 to 2013.
Both Button and Josh Berger, president and
managing director of Warner Bros. UK, have been close
to the UK government throughout the formulation of
the UK’s most recent tax credit, which offers production
companies a cash rebate of up to 25% of qualifying UK
spend. This was introduced under the UK Film Council
(UKFC) and is now administered by the British Film
Institute (BFI). Button and Berger were on the board of
the UKFC. Berger is now on the board of the BFI, with
Button an advisor. Button also sits on the board of the
Film Industry Training Board, set up to enhance skills
development in the UK film industry.
27
British Cinematographer
Covering International Cinematography
www.britishcinematographer.co.uk
Issue 051 ––– May 2012
Button would not reveal details of what films might
be booking at WBSL in 2012-13, but his office shelves
were overflowing with scripts.
Dark said: “We have been fielding offers for quite
a while and have got a number of pencils,” he said.
When questioned as to whether WBSL would be the
private domain for Warner Bros. own productions,
he commented, “Obviously, the new studios are a
strategic decision as much as a financial one, but we’re
open to all-comers involved in motion picture, TV and
commercials production. We wouldn’t be doing this if
the demand wasn’t there from the other majors as well.
The studio operates as a commercial entity its own right.
Whilst Warner Bros. will probably be our biggest client,
they will be a client like everyone else, we’ll take great
care of every production whilst they are here.”
We learnt that Dark was appointed to the role of
senior vice president of WBSL, in January 2011, a role
that sees him overseeing the entire Warner Bros. facility
at Leavesden. Moviemaking runs through Dark’s veins
as his father, John Dark, was a well-known film producer
(What’s New Pussycat, Casino Royale, Shirley Valentine),
and from an early age he worked on the set of his father’s
films during the school holidays. He started his career
as production assistant on Peter Hyams’ film Outland,
worked as an assistant director on numerous large film
and TV productions, and then spent 10 years working
in special effects. He was part of the team that won an
Oscar for special effects on James Cameron’s Aliens.
In 1992 he helped to develop a 30-acre site in Spain
into a film studio, which stood him in good stead when
he was approached by Eon Productions to redevelop
the old aero engine plant at Leavesden into a studio
complex for Goldeneye. Dark remained as studio
manager throughout the Harry Potter productions, and
has necessarily forged close relations with the local area.
He is a member of the Local Enterprise Partnership, and
associated with charities and development projects in
the community.
Donning protective headwear, and fluorescent
bibs, we embarked on our tour, visiting each of the nine
stages on the lot. Each stage has a separate dimmer
room, to keep noise of the lighting equipment at bay,
and has air-conditioned ventilation to keep sets at the
right temperature during all seasons.
“We have four of the largest soundproofed stages in
Europe, because we know big shows need big spaces,”
remarked Dark. The voluminous E, F, G stages and C
stage (offering a 45ft ceiling height, another feature that
cinematographers and set designers will appreciate) are
sited adjacent to shell of the former Rolls Royce engine
factory. This space is now configured as covered, multifunction
area for costume, props, camera, grip and
support services. Fully-furnished, en-suite dressing, hair
and make-up rooms, and kitchen/commissary capable
of feeding 1,200 per hour, are located within the central
complex. The design is such that there’s easy, covered
and secure access to the sets for production talent.
Workshops and the mill sit just beyond the main
complex, increasing the ability to provide services such as
visual effects, prosthetics, animatronics and film editing.
A large concrete apron of outdoor space expands the
external filming and production areas. WBSL is offering a
rental facility for lighting and a range of grip equipment,
run by Jackie Rowden, who is well-known amongst
cinematographers and their crews having previously
worked at LEE Lighting and Panalux. There are several
warehouse units that are expected to be occupied by
other camera, lighting and grip service companies, but
at the time of writing none could be officially confirmed.
The studio’s road infrastructure allows plenty of room for
vehicles, trucks and executive vehicles.
A key feature in making WBSL a filmmaker-friendly
studio, are the production offices, called “production
hubs”. Security has been recognised as being of
paramount importance, and these office areas feature
a swipe-card entry system, with CCTV surveillance. The
design is to such a level that a production can hire
rooms as required, with various combinations of offices,
executive offices, bullpens, meeting rooms and kitchens.
“With the new development, we worked really hard
on security,” said Dark. “We looked at it as a completely
clean canvas and asked what we needed to make
the production feel really comfortable – even with small
things, like the fact the offices can be broken down
into hubs that are all security controlled, so you can
seal off your own areas and don’t have productions
intermingling with one another.”
One wonders that, whilst WBSL offers so much, does
it not also pose a threat to exciting studio facilities in the
UK? When asked the $64k question, Dark commented,
“Leavesden has been an important part of the
filmmaking infrastructure for over a decade. If the UK had
lost Leavesden it would have lost a third of its capacity to
house major feature films. WBSL will enhance the already
excellent levels of facilities in the UK, and reinforces what
a great place the UK is for a film production.”
Of course, modern filmmaking is rapidly turning
digital and is all about immediacy. The site currently
features a 50-seat preview theatre for screening film
and digital dailies, plus high-speed, high-bandwidth
connections to the outside world, and a Cisco
TelePresence meeting room to host trans-Atlantic
teleconference sessions.
All-in-all WBSL is a studio to be reckoned with. The
studio bosses say they’ve thought of everything, and
it looks very much like they have. But the proof of the
pudding is in the eating!