Film & TV Studios - spotlight on Manchester
Manchester is becoming a prominent centre for film and TV production in the UK with a large and growing amount of studio space.
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Supported by Screen Manchester, the film office for Manchester City Council, the city is the second biggest filming location after London. It has been host to a wide number of major screen productions, including Sherlock Holmes, Darkest Hour, Snatch, Tolkien and Peaky Blinders.
The North West region has the largest concentration of stage space outside of London and the South East, accounting for 24% of the UK’s studios. Along with its educational facilities, high quality amenities and a vibrant and unique city culture, Manchester also benefits from excellent transport links with London.
Manchester has a range of purpose-built studios to offer, with more expansion plans underway and expected in the near term. The largest purpose-built complex suited to film and high-end TV dramas is Space Studios Manchester, owned by Manchester City Council. Space Studios, where multi-award-winning Peaky Blinders was filmed, currently benefits from six stages totalling over 80,000 sq ft of stage space ranging from 9,000 to 30,000 sq ft, with additional service facilities, production offices, parking and backlot. Planning for an expansion to Space Studios has been approved, which will see two new 20,000 sq ft stages with supporting accommodation added to the studio next year. Users of this production space include Sky, Marvel and Disney.
In addition, dock10 in Salford, which opened in 2010 as part of MediaCityUK, has ten purpose-built TV studios and over 96,000 sq ft of studio facilities, including a 4k UHD-ready virtual studio capability. dock10 supports the production of coverage for leading sports broadcasters, producing shows such as Match of the Day, A Question of Sport and Football Focus.
Forming part of Manchester’s ‘Enterprise City’ creative district, TV and film studio business, Versa Studios has expanded into Manchester with the opening of Versa ABC, a 5,000 sq ft ‘studio in the sky’ and home to BBC One’s daytime ‘Morning Live’, which has moved from London to Manchester. Versa Manchester’s footprint includes Manchester Studios, the former ITV Granada Studios, incorporating almost 46,000 sq ft of stage space. Versa Studios opened with its London base in 2021, before launching sites in Manchester and Leeds earlier this year. Versa Manchester plans to boast 15 studios in total with multiple TV, Film, Motion Capture and VR / AR Studios, and over 150,000 sq ft of additional production facilities by 2023.
Repurposing studio space
While there is clear evidence of a growing number of warehouse conversions in the South East and London, whereby studio operators or production companies convert and adapt the space for long-term use, this option is also being realised in Manchester.
The Sharp Project, for example, is home to over 60 digital entrepreneurs and TV and film production companies. It is based in a 200,000 sq ft refurbished warehouse previously occupied by electronics company, Sharp, and offers flexible office, production and event space. The building has over 52,000 sq ft of space dedicated to TV and film production, including four production stages and four green screen studios.
Collaboration between the different studios in Manchester which focus on different types of production is key to developing and attracting future productions to the city. Manchester is filling the gaps where there is a shortage of stage space around London and the South East, and where studio rents are higher. Attracting new productions to the North West and encouraging more businesses to base in the region is crucial to ensuring the city can continue to build and develop its reputation as a creative place for filming. Benefits include increased expenditure with local suppliers, businesses and accommodation providers, as well as creating employment opportunities for local freelance crew.
Supporting industries
When looking at companies that operate within industries supportive of the film and TV sector, although they do not always require close proximity to studios, data by FAME suggests that studio clusters in the North West tend to be quite underserved by such supporting industries.
Screen Manchester’s new Crew and Facilities Initiative provides a database resource for producers, broadcasters and streaming services looking to hire experienced and local freelance crew across Manchester and the wider North West region. The initiative will be a key tool for upcoming productions who have committed, or are looking, to Manchester. This is most beneficial given the spike-in-demand for both skilled film and TV crew in the industry, but also for other freelance labourers working in parallel to the sector.