Page 3 - FILM STUDIOS CROPPED

Studio boss Steve Jaggs overlooks the vast Pinewood Studio complex set deep in the Buckinghamshire countryside yet only 20 miles from central London.
studio facilities
CARRY ON
CARRY ON
PINEWOOD
PINEWOOD
NOT JUST ANOTHER DREAM FACTORY - BUT A STUDIO FOR ALL SEASONS
Awalk around Pinewood Studios is a walk through cinema history. For over 60 years this beautifully appointed, 96-acre site in Buckinghamshire has been home to the best of domestic production as well as an array of lavish Hollywood movies. This is, after all, the place where James Bond earned his licence to thrill; where the whole Carry On began; where Oliver twisted;
where Genevieve first rallied; and
where the Battle of The River Plate
was fought and won.
It’s the place where Superman
flew, Batman stalked the night, a Mission Impossible was mounted and the Vampire was Interviewed. Recently it has housed new movies like Sliding Doors, The Avengers, Eyes Wide Shut, Rogue Trader, Event Horizon, The Governess and Tom’s Midnight Garden.
Pinewood is a studio for all sea- sons. But in spite of the proud histo- ry, it remains a versatile and highly accommodating place to work today - home to scores of movies, acclaimed TV series and popular commercials. In every sense it is a working production community.
“That’s certainly how we see
agrees Steve Jaggs, managing director of the stu- dio. “Between ourselves and the numerous ten- ants that we have permantly resident on site there is little that cannot be provided for, or supplied to the filmmaker of whatever size.”
Jaggs began working in the industry at the tender age of 17, at first in film laboratories, before joining Agfa where he was involved in stock man- ufacture. A rapid rise up the corporate ladder
ended with his appointment as Motion Picture Divisional Manager for Agfa in the UK, at which point he was head hunted for his current post as MD of Pinewood Studios, beginning auspiciously on January 1, 1993. Since then Jaggs has presided over a studio that has slowly managed to renew itself during a significant upturn in production. “Coming into the job it was very exciting,” he
the great and good of British politics and the Irish Free State Treaty was actually signed there in 1921. But upon the death of its owner in 1934, the house was bought by builder Charles Boot, who had ambitions to establish a movie studio on the site.
A year later Boot entered into a partnership with J. Arthur Rank, the house was renamed Pinewood and together they set about converting
it with the ambition of creating the best facilities in the film world. Production companies had been booking space months in advance, as word of mouth spread the good news, so when the builders moved out in 1936 the film-makers moved in almost immediately. The first feature to be completed there was Herbert Wilcox’s London Melody starring Anna Neagle. Carol Reed’s Talk of The Devil was released soon after, and had the honour of being the first film made entirely on site at the new studio.
Streamlined and efficient, Pinewood proved itself as good as its early reputation, with its unit system of production able to cope with several productions simulta- neously. For a while it actually
achieved the highest output of any studio in the world. Among the great films shot there during the pre-war years was Pygmalion, starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller.
With normal production interrupted by the war, the studio was requisitioned by the govern- ment’s Army Film Production Unit to make morale boosters and training films, but also served as an out station for the Royal Mint and operated as the wartime base for Lloyds of London.
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ourselves,”
adds, “and it continues to be just as exciting now as it did then, which shows we’re doing it right.”
Along with its closest competitor, Shepperton Studios, Pinewood enjoys a worldwide reputation for being the Best of British. Just 20 miles from London, the tranquillity and natural beauty of the studio could not offer more of a contrast with the bustle and noise of the capital.
Built around a grand Victorian house known as Heatherden Hall, it was once a meeting place for