Pinewood Shepperton sees profit slump by 55%

Readers' comments (4)

• Jonathan Stuart-Brown | 25-Aug-2009 11:04 pm

  When and if Pinewood Studios board fails to get planning permission to destroy 100 acres of greenbelt land in South Buckinghamshire so to implement a truly genius expansion plan, the Board have movie stars, luvvies and media celebs lined up for a blitzkrieg media assault especially on The BBC trying to get The Government to steamroll through this deal. HOWEVER there is now a West Midland option on the table. While retaining the present status quo in Iver Heath, Pinewood Studios and greenbelt land ANY AND ALL FUTURE EXPANSIONS CAN BE BUILT IN THE WEST MIDLANDS, THE HEART OF ENGLAND. THE National Film and Television Training Centre will be better placed there as well. THIS IS THE WAY FOR PINEWOOD SHEPPERTON PLC to make huge longterm profits, significantly cut costs as the land is so cheap, raise production quality in state of the art studios with unlimited expansion capacity and utilise the magnificent industrial skill of The West Midlands in any product. James Bond in Birmingham, Jason Bourne in Wolverhampton, Robin Hood in Sutton Park and Warwick Castle, Mission Impossible 4 and Indiana Jones 5 in Walsall.
  
  The Government need to persuade Pinewood's Board (which may have thrown away all this year's profit on a failed futile planning bid) THAT they will never expand on or near the most expensive land in Europe, that no-one will move Heathrow Airport and The West End of London BUT THAT ON THE MUCH MUCH CHEAPER WEST MIDLAND LAND THAT THE NATION CAN PARTNER WITH PINEWOOD IN BUILDING THE GREATEST MOVIE SET INFRASTRUCTURE AND GREATEST FACTORY FACILITIES TO MANUFACTURE MOVIES WHICH THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.
  
  See:
  
  http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6111#p117648
  
  and
  
  http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/fantasy-movie-2108091.html
  
  
  Jonathan Stuart-Brown

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• Jonathan Stuart-Brown | 9-Sep-2009 1:34 pm

  Stephen Kyle,
  Area Team Leader,
  South Bucks District Council,
  Capswood,
  Oxford Road,
  Denham, Bucks.
  UB9 4LH
  
  Planning Number 09/00706/OUT
  
  Dear Mr Kyle,
  
  Re: Pinewood Studios Expansion onto Greenbelt Land
  
  I am writing to you a letter requesting that in the interest of the creative industries in The UK that you refuse this expansion request.
  
  Further, if you are minded to grant it THEN both in the interest of the UK creative industries and local employment in Buckinghamshire, I urge you to only grant this if Pinewood Shepperton PLC transfer a controlling interest of 51% voting shares to South Bucks District Council.
  
  In fact Borehamwood Council had to do this to stop the 15 acre Elstree Studios turning into a car park !
  
  Here are the facts.
  
  Pinewood Shepperton is a PLC in which shares are freely traded. The tension for Pinewood is that the land they are presently on and wish to expand on is among the most expensive on the planet. Film factories are always built on cheap land suitable for industrial manufacture. The original Hollywood Studios were built on the cheapest land then in The USA (ie a desert nobody wanted).
  
  At the height of the market in 2007 and also at its low point, the value of the Pinewood Studios land for other use has been many times higher than for the film-manufacturing-factory-facilities-for-hire value.
  
  The point is that as land prices recover (and given West London's history they certainly will), so for any profit seekers the attraction of buying a controlling interest in Pinewood Shepperton PLC grows. They can with 51% of shares sack the present Board making all their (I assume sincere) promises to the South Bucks and creative community null and void.
  
  All the community sweeteners they offer will mean less than a sacked football manager's thoughts on team selection.
  
  The increase of 100 acres of land will make an asset strip of the entire Pinewood complex MORE not less attractive to an asset stripper.
  
  So a Chinese, Indian, Libyan, South African buyer sees that if they buy the shares SO they can sell the land including Pinewood's present studio (for residential use, windmills, a supermarket distribution centre, whatever) at huge profit.
  
  Many are licking their lips and cheering on this expansion.
  
  They would then do one of two things.
  
  Either they can rebuild the studio in China, India, Libya, South Africa etc (taking all the Hollywood finance and James Bond contracts with them and heritage and international kudos and employment with them).
  
  Or they just sell to the new proposed French state of the art studio or proposed South African film facory or existing Eastern European studio or indeed any other competitor of Pinewood the crown jewels: the Pinewood Studios brandname which is officially in the top 25 global brands and highly trusted by Hollywood financiers. Then it would not be permitted to be used the name Pinewood Studios or Shepperton Studios in The UK even if The Government then built a new studio.
  
  The brand, reputation and 75 year heritage of Pinewood Studios, Shepperton Studios and Teddington Studios would be lost to the nation forever. This would close The British Film industry to all but the 0.5% superelite international reputation actors and crew such as Vic Armstrong.
  
  This could happen in weeks and not even months.
  
  So unless you can negotiate as part of planning permission a 51% share of the voting rights on any takeover bid for Pinewood Shepperton PLC then I urge you to refuse this expansion.
  
  My preferred scenario is that Pinewood Shepperton PLC keep its existing Pinewood Studios in your area and leave the greenbelt land ie retain the status quo with no job losses. Then they expand their truly brilliant plan in The West Midlands which is full of factory facilities and vacant industrial land much better for the purpose (and cheaper).
  
  The Government can be persuaded to help finance this media infrastructure in The West Midlands to dampen unemployment levels in the fastest rising part of The UK. Indeed The West Midlands can embrace 200 or more new sets not the 18-20 (Venice, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Chicago, Castle etc) proposed by Pinewood. So that further expansion will never be an issue.
  
  You get to keep your Pinewood Studio, you get to keep the green belt land and community tone, YOU avoid a mass invasion by tens of thousands of unemployed people from The Midlands and North seeking any work in a turbo charged Pinewood in Bucks. This would put a huge strain on local schools, hospitals, housing, roads and other services.
  
  I think Pinewood Shepperton PLC which has spent over 8% of its present value on chasing this Planning Permission will see the economic sense of further UK expansion away from its present site.
  
  You can buy the company today for under £70 million and you certainly can not buy the then 300 acres near West London for this, if you grant this planning permission.
  In 2007 it nudged £1500 million for the land and as we move to 2012 Olympics it may do so again.
  
  Pinewood Shepperton PLC share price is in bad times and good very far below its land price. A serious film production factory for hire company ALWAYS expands on cheap land NOT expensive land.
  
  Of course if an asset stripper steps in, then the present shareholders will be hugely enriched as they hand over control of Pinewood's destiny. This enrichment multiplies considerably with the extra 100 acres on greenbelt land now available for commercial sale.
  
  However, The Government having a GOLDEN SHARE and veto in Pinewood Shepperton PLC as a result of assisting a West Midland expansion would see off any asset stripper in the national interest.
  
  Indeed Pinewood's expansion in The West Midlands could in future decades expand to Cornwall and Scotland, from East to West Coast and create over 500 sets or 15 acre studios (the size of Elstree) all bearing The Pinewood brand, of which you are the central beneficiary.
  
  This could give the UK the dominant global film factory facilities for hire infrastructure AND give South Bucks far increased global kudos without any change to your local status quo and green belt beauty.
  
  Pinewood Shepperton PLC studios (ie factories) are a huge blessing to The UK. Ironically granting this expansion can quickly kill stone dead all UK film factory film production because the shares can be bought by any asset stripper NO MATTER HOW SINCERE THE PRESENT BOARD PROMISES to the local community.
  
  I pray you have great wisdom in your vital decision.
  
  Yours Faithfully,
  Jonathan Stuart-Brown LLB

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• Jonathan Stuart-Brown | 8-Oct-2009 0:22 am

  Pinewood Shepperton PLC share price market capitalisation is under £60 million today. This is less than Birmingham City FC sale price, less than Cristiano Ronaldo's sale price, less than a medium sized budget movie using the studios. On October 21 if South Bucks District Planning refuse Pinewood Studios expansion plan on 100 acres of greenbelt land, then this can be a huge crisis for British based film making and British based filmworkers. The share price has fallen as the market has risen. The share price when it embarked on this planning application was £2.90 but is now under £1.30. A takeover by even a moderately rich person could turn Pinewood Studios, Shepperton Studios and Teddington studios into a private home convenient for West London or make £2500 million from building houses on the land. Pinewood Studios' Board and The Government could consider the proposal from savethebritishfilmindustry.com
  to consider relocating the expansion to cheaper land with no planning issues such as ex-industrial sites such as Longbridge, Jaguar, Landrover in the West Midlands.
  This can literally save British based film making, build 200 not 20 sets including Pyramids and Sci-fi, take over 50% of all global film and Tv production in any language based on much lower cost and much better production quality.
  Jonathan Stuart-Brown

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• Mick Travis | 31-Jan-2010 5:16 pm

  Well said Jonathan Stuart-Brown - but just remember when, or if, you build the studios in the West Midlands to make then affordable for film-makers and companies at all levels - whether its micro/low budget film makers or bigger companies - dont just make them a facility for big budget productions and those who have the big dollars.
  All these studios such as Pinewood did that years ago and are currently merely serve as a US production base or are open to the highest bidder - which means that many creative British companies and freelancers are locked out of a London-centric closed shop market - hence at Pinewood the prevalence of US movies and television game shows. Infact the fact that you are British does not even come into the equation - and it should. Its about money pure and simple - and as America owns the multiplexes in the uk they also use British box office money to support American production.
  To see how this badly affects the British Film industry read the 'Where Have all the screenwriters Gone?' opinion and subsequent comments on this same site.
  Ownership of Production has to be linked to ownership of exhibition - owned by the British for the interests of the British - from the creative industries to all film connected industries - even if it works in an international context for international productions/co-productions. I live near Pinewood and this has not happened in Pinewood Studios for many years.
  A new studio should not repeat this mistake. For more info on how the set-up works go to;
  www.pleasedsheep.com
  click on articles/film politics

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