Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is a 80-hectare studio complex in Leavesden,
Hertfordshire in southeastern England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios
and still colloquially known Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a
major film and media complex owned by Warner Bros. The studios and backlot
were all retrofitted as the site's original purpose was as an aircraft
factory and airfield known as Leavesden Aerodrome, an important centre of
aircraft production during World War II. It is situated in southwest
Hertfordshire approximately 29 kilometres northwest of central London,
in Watford. Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, is one
of only a few places in the UK where large scale film productions can be
made. The studios contain approximately 50,000 m2 of flexible space which
includes stage space, one of the largest filtered and heated stage-based water
tanks in Europe, production office space and support buildings, along with an
extensive 32-hectare backlot which offers a 180 degree uninterrupted
horizon, favourable for exterior sets. Since acquiring the site Warner Bros.
has opened a public attraction called The Warner Bros. Studio Tour – London,
which receives over 5,000 visitors a day all whilst the site maintains a secure
studio space within the same complex. History
Construction of Leavesden Aerodrome began in 1939 with the outbreak of World
War II. The de Havilland company, who were based in nearby Hatfield, entered a
contract with the Ministry of Defence to produce what would become known as the
Mosquito fighter craft and the Halifax bomber. This new site was acquired as
the large scale hangars needed to accommodate the production of huge
number of planes required could not be constructed at de Havilland's Hatfield
base due to a lack of space. As a result, by the end of the war Leavesden
Aerodrome was the largest factory in the world. The two planes were both critical
successes for Britain during the conflict. After the war, the aerodrome
was acquired by Rolls-Royce who used it as a factory producing engines for
airplanes and later helicopters. However, by the early 1990s they had
sold their interests in the site. Unable to find a new owner, Leavesden Aerodrome
was left disused. Then, in 1995, Eon Productions' James
Bond film GoldenEye was to be the next film in the series after an unusually
long six-year break. Pinewood Studios, the series' traditional home, was thus
fully booked with other productions. Facing little time to find a space in
which they could build the number of large scale sets required, the
production discovered the unoccupied Leavesden Aerodrome. The wide, tall and
open aircraft hangars were uniquely well suited to conversion into a studio
space. Eon leased the site for the duration of their shoot and went about
gutting the factory, turning it into a working film studio. This process is
shown on the 2006 DVD's special features. GoldenEye's crew jokingly
called Leavesden Cubbywood after Eon's long serving producer Albert R. 'Cubby'
Broccoli. After GoldenEye wrapped a succession of
major feature films quickly made use of the site, including the first of the
Star Wars prequels. By the year 2000, Heyday Films had acquired the site on
behalf of Warner Bros. for use in what would be the first in a series of films,
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Every one of the Harry Potter
films was based out of Leavesden Studios over the following ten years. While
other productions—usually other Warner Bros. productions—made partial use of
the studios, the site was mostly occupied by Harry Potter's permanent
standing sets. During this time it was noted that there were some ways in which
the site's facilities might be improved. None of the stages were adequately
soundproofed and the WW2 era ceilings had a tendency to leak during rainy
weather. One of the more noticeable exterior sets
constructed on the Leavesden backlot was a row of ten houses along a street,
which was created for the Harry Potter series to represent Privet Drive. As of
September 2012, this set is still visible on the Google Maps and Bing Maps
aerial views of the area, along with the Hagrid's hut and Hogwarts bridge
exteriors. On 21 March 2010, there was a fire on
one of the Hogwarts sets during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
at Leavesden Studios. Not much of the set was badly damaged.
In 2010, Warner Bros. announced their intention to purchase the studio as a
permanent European base, the first studio to do so since
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s. By November 2010, Warner Bros. completed
its purchase of Leavesden Studios and announced plans to invest more than
£100m into the site they had occupied for over ten years. The studios make
Warner Bros. the only Hollywood film studio with a permanent base in the UK.
Much of the redevelopment involved converting stages A through H into
soundstages and equipping all the facilities with the latest fittings a
production might require. The refurbished stages were retrofits of the
original buildings and were actually very respectful to the site's history.
The runway and control tower from the site's days as an aerodrome remain
intact as well as all of the buildings' original structures. The full scale
refurbishment and renovation of the production facilities were completed and
the studios reopened to film and television work in 2012.
As part of this redevelopment Warner Bros. also created two entirely new
soundstages, J & K, to house a permanent public exhibition called The Warner
Bros. Studio Tour – London, creating 300 new jobs in the local area. Currently
the whole attraction is dedicated to the making of Harry Potter and is now home
to many of the series' most iconic sets, props and costumes. It was opened to the
public in early 2012. Almost twenty years after the complex
was converted from aerodrome to film studios—and over a year since the
completion of work on the newly refurbished studios—the site was
officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on 26 April 2013.
On their royal visit, they were accompanied by the Duke's brother Prince
Harry and J. K. Rowling amongst other illustrious guests. Before their visit
several hundred beneficiaries of charities they all support were given
exclusive invitations to the tour on the day of the royal visit. The royal
entourage visited both the tour, meeting many of their beneficiaries, and the
studios, where they saw some of the props and costumes from Christopher
Nolan's Batman films, before conducting the site's royal inauguration.
The first film to shoot at the newly refurbished studios was the Warner Bros.
production Edge of Tomorrow. Though the studios are now privately owned, the
shooting spaces are available to rent for any film company. The studios are
now one of the largest and most state-of-the-art secure filmmaking
facilities in the world. On June 30, 2014, Warner Bros. announced
the expansion of the studio, building three new state-of-the-art stages and
adding a further 100,000 square feet of office space. The announcements were
made after a reception celebrating the Creative Industries, hosted by PM David
Cameron, and attended by WB's CEO Kevin Tsujihara and WB UK's MD Josh Berger.
Leavesden's trio of new sound-stages will consist of one 35,000 square foot
building and two 17,000 square foot buildings, along with 20,000 square feet
of adjacent office space which were completed by the end of 2014. On the
same day the filming of live-action Tarzan got underway at the studio.
Productions Films that have made use of the
facilities include: GoldenEye
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Sleepy Hollow Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet
Street Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix The Dark Knight
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Sherlock Holmes
Inception Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows –
Part 1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows –
Part 2 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Edge of Tomorrow
300: Rise of an Empire Jupiter Ascending
Kingsman: The Secret Service The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
In the Heart of the Sea Pan
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Tarzan
Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
The studios have also been used for various music videos and television
commercials, most notably support for the video for Jamiroquai's "Deeper
Underground". Studio tour
A studio tour on the site, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, opened to the
public on 31 March 2012 with a grand opening event, attended by many of the
Harry Potter film series cast and crew members, including Rupert Grint, Tom
Felton, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Warwick Davis, David Thewlis, Helen
McCrory, George Harris, Nick Moran, Natalia Tena, David Bradley, Alfie
Enoch, Harry Melling, David Heyman, David Barron, David Yates, Alfonso
Cuaron, and Mike Newell. With each tour session typically lasting
three hours, the studio tour has the capacity to handle 6,000 visitors daily.
Despite Warner Bros. being the film company behind Harry Potter, the tour is
not styled as a theme park, due to Universal Studios obtaining the rights
to build Harry Potter theme parks, such as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,
in Orlando, Florida. The tour, which was designed and produced by Burbank-based
Thinkwell Group in close collaboration with Warner Bros. and the filmmakers,
includes only sets, props and costumes that were actually used in the Harry
Potter film series, including the Great Hall, Dumbledore's Office, Diagon Alley,
the Ministry of Magic, Gryffindor Common Room and Boys' Dormitory, Hagrid's Hut
and a 1:24 scale model of Hogwarts Castle, which Anita Singh of The Daily
Telegraph described as "the highlight" of the tour. Liz Thomas, of the Daily
Mail, was critical of the tour's cost, describing it as "a somewhat less
magical price tag". Diagon Alley is available to explore virtually on Google
Maps Street View. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The
Making of Harry Potter has won several awards since its opening, including a
2013 Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement, 2013 Telly Award for
Editing, 2013 Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence, 2013 UKinbound Award for
Individual Attraction of the Year, 2012 Event Technology Silver Award for Best
Use of Handheld Technology, 2012 UK Customer Experience Award for Best
Leisure & Retail Experience, and 2012 Group Leisure Award for Best UK
Attraction. The Studio Tour has also been honoured with awards for its
lighting design, including the 2013 IES Illumination Award of Merit and 2013
Lighting Design Award for Lighting for Leisure. In addition, the Studio Tour
was named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Entertainment Design Projects
of 2012 by EntertainmentDesigner.com. Although the tour currently only focuses
on Harry Potter, Warner Bros. have highlighted the possibility to expand
the tour to other Warner Bros. franchises in the years to come.
Although the possibility of a full Warner Bros. theme park has been ruled
out due to planning restrictions and lack of space, Warner Bros. have said
that they would like to add more interactive rides during the expansion,
similar to Universal Studios Florida. A hotel is also expected to open next to
the plot, but it is unclear whether this will be operated by Warner Bros.
In January 2015, the attraction's first expansion was announced - a brand new
Platform 9¾ section, where visitors are able to board the original carriages
behind the Hogwarts Express steam engine used in the films. As with the rest of
the attraction, the set was constructed and dressed by the original crew members
who worked on the film - including Stuart Craig himself, who designed the
new set exclusively for the tour. The setup includes the locomotive GWR 4900
Class 5972 Olton Hall and the British Rail Mark 1 train that appeared in the
films, brought to life by John Richardson's special effects team.
Finally a new green screen experience illustrates what working on the films is
like from an actor's point of view. This section opened in late March 2015.
See also Old Warner Brothers Studio
References External links
Warner Bros. Official UK website Warner Bros. Studio Tour website
Official Studios website Studio Tour Guide