Page 21 - Film Facilities & Studios Almanac_ok

Photo inset oppsite page: Rosa Maggiora, Emma Pascoe and Edwin Shirley; above main: Three Mills Island Studios Above from left: stills from Bad Girls; Topsy-Turvy and Lighthouse - all filmed at Three Mills Island
Not a man to stand still for long, Shirley has most recently overseen reconstruction across a cou- ple of soundstages, in preparation for the arrival of London’s Burning to their new east London base. With ITV’s prison series, Bad Girls - boasting the biggest free-standing set in Europe – already based there, there is now a third high profile show that will be able to call the Island home.
Big Brother is a Dutch import, being remade for Channel 4. Pitching ten complete strangers together in a purpose built house, cameras observe their actions and interactions at all times. During the weekly live broadcast viewers will have the oppor- tunity to phone in and vote for the person they would most like to see removed from the group.
In some ways it’s the perfect bold, brash and groundbreaking programme for this new and excit- ing studio facility. But with a success like Big
Brother comes the need to free up more space in the adjacent empty land. “We’ve actually got six other properties now either immediately adjacent or in the area, which we’re exploiting. We’ve had to expand, because we’ve got three potentially long running dramas, some of our studios previously available for short term hire aren’t any more, so we’ve had to create some.”
As well as four wall studios, Three Mills Island Studios aims to offer a more personal service, a can- do mentality that springs from Shirley’s background in the music business.
Recent features based there – in whole or in part - include the All Saints’ movie Honest, The Guv’nor, The Criminal, Greenwich Meantime, Lighthouse, Love Is The Devil and Intimate Relations. If Edwin Shirley has his way, these titles will just be the tip of the iceberg.
“People know they can come and do a deal with us,” he adds. “What we want is to create a work space where someone is able to come here with any lighting company they want, or any catering compa- ny. We have people based here who will hustle to get the job, but we’ll ensure it’s a level playing field.
“And, because we’re flexible, it enables someone like Mike Leigh to base their film at Three Mills while he rehearses and explores his options. We’re cheap enough, we can make things happen and we’ll do whatever we can to help filmmakers get their films made.” ■ ANWAR BRETT
Lighthouse and parts of Greenwich Meantime were originated on Fujicolor Motion Picture Negative