Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden opens in UK

Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, the £100 million studio owned and operated by Warner Bros., opens for business today.

The site will host TV and film productions, with none publicly confirmed as yet.

Based outside Watford, Hertfordshire, the facility is the only film studio in the UK to be owned and operated by a Hollywood studio.

Formerly the production home of all eight Harry Potter films, the new studio is spread across a 200-acre site and includes sound stages spanning more than a quarter of a million square feet, a heated underwater filming tank and a 100 acre back-lot.

The site also includes a production rentals division, workshops, en-suite dressing and hair and make-up rooms, offices and production suites.

The new studio is based on the same site as the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, the walking tour which opened in March.

Warner Bros. previously filmed Sherlock Holmes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wrath of the Titans at Leavesden.

Josh Berger, president and managing director, Warner Bros. UK, Ireland and Spain, said: “Alongside a growing UK film, TV and games production slate, the opening of Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden clearly demonstrates the company’s commitment to the UK and underlines our belief in the world-class talent that resides on these shores. As well as helping to generate inward investment and create new jobs both locally and nationally, this significant infrastructure outlay - probably the single biggest the UK film industry has witnessed in decades - will further amplify the UK’s reputation as the go-to place for film and TV production.”

Roy Button OBE, executive vice president and managing director, Warner Bros. Productions Ltd, which is based at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, added: “As the levels of studio-based production in the UK have risen in recent years, so too has our own UK production output. Back in 2000, we produced just one movie here in the UK, last year it was seven, so by adding this important resource to the UK’s studio landscape we are helping to meet not just our own production needs, but those of the wider thriving British film industry.”

Dan Dark, senior vice president and managing director, Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, commented: “Drawing on Warner Bros.’ unparalleled studio-operating experience, we have spent the last 18 months building a state-of-the-art facility that will provide clients with a highly functional and contemporary environment within which to film. The feedback we’ve already received from the production community has been overwhelmingly positive.”