West London Film Studios — that was the basis for all three seasons of Apple TV+’s Emmy-winning hit Ted Lassobut has also welcomed movies including The father And Judy – will receive a green-oriented expansion.
The UK facility – located in the West London town of Hayes, and currently housing five stages in an area of approximately 10,000 square feet – is growing to a further 85,000 square feet of land by road, on which a further four stages will be built for a amount of approximately £23 million ($28 million). But in addition to the new studio space, which opens in June (and already has a booking), owner Frank Khalid is installing a $3.7 million ($4.6 million) three-megawatt gas substation — which he says is the first to is used in a studio — so that the extension generates its own electricity.
According to Khalid, while the substation itself does not use renewable fuel or green energy, it reduces the resources that would otherwise be required to bring it to the facility.
“In most cases with electricity you have to dig the road because the power plant is miles away,” he says The Hollywood Reporter. “A lot has to happen by the time the electricity reaches your building. And studios need a lot of power.”
Khalid also says the generator will become another source of income for him, with productions using the studio now being billed by West London Film Studios for their energy use. And while the current plan is to power just the new expansion, he says if he doubled the load to six megawatts, it would be feasible to power the original studio space as well. “So that’s something to watch for the future,” he says.
The move at West London Film Studios follows a similar eco-focused drive at many other new-build facilities. Sky Studios Elstree — the huge and newly opened facility that houses film and TV projects from Sky, Working Title and Universal (Bad is currently filming there) – began construction with a promise to be the most sustainable manufacturing hub in the world, built to collect and treat rainwater, be powered by solar panels, and have enough battery storage for 25 percent of the consumption, in addition to various eco-oriented skills.
Khalid only opened West London Film Studios in 2014 (the first production was The imitation game), the entrepreneur who got into film production somewhat unexpectedly because he originally wanted to use the space as a wedding venue, but changed his mind when the city council objected. But thanks to the surge in demand for studio space the UK has since experienced, he says he’s now looking for more opportunities than the initial expansion. However, he warns that the current record inflation in the UK is driving production away from the country to Europe.
“At the moment we are doing well and the future looks good, but there is also that danger.”
