Shinfield Studios is changing the landscape, with unmatched sustainability, innovation and potential, reports Robert Shepherd
By Contributor
Published: August 17, 2023
Shinfield Studios is changing the landscape, with unmatched sustainability, innovation and potential, reports Robert Shepherd
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Image courtesy of Earth Grid The UK's reputation in the movie business precedes itself, boasting a mastery of unrivalled production values coupled with a cost advantage over its Hollywood counterparts. From the grand Pinewood and Shepperton to the bustling Leavesden and the once-mighty yet intimate Ealing, these illustrious studios have taken lots of business from Tinseltown giants over the years.
A new addition to that distinguished list is Shinfield Studios, a colossal expanse of 120 acres (with the potential to take more) and 1M. sq ft, strategically nestles along the M4 corridor, a few miles from Reading.
The brainchild of former Pinewood Shepperton commercial director, Nick Smith, Shinfield was initially a reaction to the lack of space afforded streamers owing to the fact so many big budget movies were taking the space.
Now, just finishing the second of a five-phase construction programme, it's taking orders on the scale of the aforementioned competitors. We're not focused on any particular area, Smith tells TVBEurope. We're able to take the biggest global productions around. Streamers and features are welcome.
Shinfield has just started on its fourth production with two others winding up. Smith explains how it's a real achievement in what has been a very short existence to date.
Phase one only finished in Autumn 2021 and the site has been fully used up until now, he says. Phase two is made up of four phases due to the scale of the project with phases 2A and 2B both opening at the end of June. Phase C will be open in September and deliver another four sound stages and the whole of phase two will be completed in February next year.
Upon conclusion of Phase Two, Shinfield will boast an impressive total of 18 sound stages, nine of which are currently available for immediate use. Among the grandest is Stage Three, nearing completion: a colossal, 42,000 sq ft stage and being fully soundproofed and fully air-conditioned with 50 feet to the working gantry it makes this soundstage one of the UK's largest.
We didn't want to cut corners, Smith adds. I've worked on soundstages around the world where budgetary issues meant we had to cut corners. I said with Shinfield, we're either going to do it properly or not at all.
However, do not let the two-year purple patch fool you into thinking it's been an easy process. It took nearly six years to secure the land and get the project to where it is today that is set to house the UK's fourth largest studios.
We probably spent the first couple of years just looking at different sites not because there were many, but quite the opposite. It was hard to find a site within the designated area - close to London - with 100 hundred plus acres that allowed us to build what we wanted, Smith adds. We looked around north London and here, weighing up all the pros and cons. Then we saw they were upgrading the M4. The Elizabeth Line comes out to Reading Green Park station, which has just opened. We looked at the crew data bases and lots live on the M4 corridor between Slough and Reading, so it trumped anything we found in north London.
Moreover, the purpose-built studio enables it to provide facilities and services that older ones simply cannot match. With modern technology at our disposal, which might prove challenging to incorporate into older structures, we have the advantage of concrete aprons between stages, allowing convenient parking for vehicles, explains Smith. Unlike other studios that lack such features due to their original construction limitations, our facility was designed with this functionality in mind.
Nevertheless, amidst the marvel of this state-of-the-art studio construction, a tense atmosphere pervades the film industry, as writers and actors in Hollywood united in a profound strike. While an immediate solution remains uncertain, Smith maintains a pragmatic outlook on the situation.
It's not a great time because it's has meant there's a significant production hiatus, he says. However, I look at it with my glass half full hat on in that it would be even worse if we finished everything this year and then in 2024, when we're ready to go, the industry goes on strike.
Shinfield's green credentials also make it stand out against the other film studios. Nothing is powered by gas, solar panels have been installed and there are air source heat pumps peppered across the complex.
Sound Stage 3 We've tried to think about it in an innovative way but still give the producer what they need, Smith says. We try to be as green as we can, full in the knowledge that the productions require a lot of power. We've been surprised when we turn on the biggest stage and see the air-con only uses up 50 per cent of the energy we were told we would burn. We're greener than we thought we were going to be at this point.
AI has started to gain traction in the movie business in recent years, but Smith says it's too early for Shinfield to be thinking about that right now. Everybody is still talking about video walls, so that's how it's going to be for the foreseeable. That said, we will adapt when the time comes.
Although the sound stages are slated for completion within the first quarter of next year, that doesn't mean the construction will come to an end. Building the media hub and commercial space that will be leased out to production houses, facilities companies and edit suites
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
Shinfield Studios is changing the landscape, with unmatched sustainability, innovation and potential, reports Robert Shepherd
