American investors are planning to build a $1 billion dollar film and TV production studio complex in Hertfordshire, in what the UK government has described as “another vote of confidence in the UK’s booking film and TV industry.”
The investment firm Blackstone and the property company Hudson Pacific say they’ll create more than 4500 jobs at the site in Broxbourne, that will compete with three other major studios in the area, north and west of London.
It’s understood that the new complex, to be named Sunset Studios after the investors’ existing production facilities in Los Angeles, will be bigger than Warner Bros Leavesden studios, where the Harry Potter films were made, Elstree Studios and Pinewood, the home of James Bond.
The head of Blackstone Real Estate Europe, James Seppala, said the partnership intended to deliver a world-class studio facility that would ensure the UK continues to be a premier destination for content production globally.
Boris Johnson described the announcement as “excellent news” for the UK’s film and TV industry.
The development is yet to receive planning permission from Broxbourne Council.