Page 45 - FILM STUDIOS CROPPED

studio facilities
“In the absence of money, we will have to make do with talent.” Sir Michael Balcon
THE EALING
THE EALING
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
From classic comedies to good old British courtesy in London W5
W hen you drive in towards London from the west, coming off the Great West Road or the M4, you will pass by a proud piece of British film history. You may not even notice it as you head up Ealing Green
towards the Broadway, but it is there all the same. Ealing Studios have been a cornerstone of the domestic industry for nearly a century with successive owners guiding their for- tunes. Today they are in a state of transition once more with current owners, The National Film & Television School, having announced plans to sell the studios with the intention of basing their activities in a more central site.
It is yet one more upheaval in a decade that began under BBC owner- ship, before BBRK arrived who, in due course, sold the site to The National Film & Television School. Yet typically, Ealing continues to be as busy as ever, as bookings manager Jenny Musitano attests.
“We’ve always had good word of mouth from people here,” she explains. “When BBRK came here we had to keep telling people that the BBC didn’t own the studio any more. That took quite a long time. Then BBRK went into receivership only two years later, and we were bought by the National Film & Television School. And all the while we never stopped trading. We’ve had quite a lot of battles in all that time with no real money to throw around, but we’re still a going concern.”
And they’re still competing with the big boys, which in many ways is a testament to the far
sightedness of Will Barker, the entrepreneur who founded the studios at the beginning of the cen- tury. The appeal for potential clients these days, both home grown and foreign, is not only the green and pleasant four acre studio setting, but superb access to local public transport, interna- tional airports and the glitz of the West End.
“We also do short lets, which is ideal for some people, because they’re in the right envi- ronment for making films. They can network, we have viewing facilities, a café and a bar. And the offices are all set up with phones in there already, so they can just move in and get started.”
Certainly a production base at Ealing Studios - with all the illustrious history attached to that name - is a little more prestigious than an anony- mous old office block in Soho. But this is a studio that is looking for- ward rather than looking back. Yet ongoing improvements have, by necessity with an operation of this
size, been conservative.
“The studio hasn’t changed
that much over the years,” adds Musitano. “The stages are all the same, the ones that the Ealing comedies were done in are as they were then. But we have done one or two things like add Stage One, where the boiler house used to be. And we’ve added a workshop where the old preview theatres were. Otherwise buildings like The
White House and West Lodge are still the same.” Four sound stages, two of which can be com- bined to create one big stage measuring 145 feet by 85 feet, two non-sound stages, meeting rooms (including the one time office of the studio’s leg- endary manager Sir Michael Balcon), a rehearsal room, a construction workshop, production offices and dressing, hair and make-up rooms are the bare bones of the place. Twenty permanent staff, headed by Studio Manager Simon Mallin, administer the buildings, while Jenny Musitano
Now operating solely as a four wall studio, Ealing fulfils the basic needs of a wide variety of production companies, filling in the gaps left by bigger competitors lying just outside of the capital.
“People will come here, hire the stages and bring all their own people, crew, props and every- thing,” Musitano continues. “They’re basically hiring a fully working, fully ready, empty space. We also have dry hire editing rooms, because if people have a base here it’s often quite useful for them to have an editing room to work in. But they have to bring their own equipment with them.
books productions in and out.
continued on page 30
Photo left: Ealing’s legendary Chief Commissionaire Robin Adair gives comic newcomer Benny Hill strict intructions as to how he is to fulfil his 1955 debut acting role in Who Done It? inset top: Ealing Studios’ Booking Manager Jenny Musitano; inset centre: Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in the hoped for hit, Notting Hill - yet another classic Ealing Comedy?
EXPOSURE • 27