A large 100 million pound upgrade of Leavesden film and television studios is under way with the buildings due to be fully complete in April ahead of the official opening in June 2012. Warner Brothers have invested large sums of money into Leavesden however they are already getting some payback with one of the sound stages already open.

Warner Bros Studios Leavesden has already been using a large 31,000 sq ft soundstage in the complex that was being used to re-film scenes for an unknown film. The fact that the studio is already being used before the opening date can only be considered advantageous for the long term prospects of the studio, Josh Berger the president and managing director of Warner Bros Entertainment UK was quoted as saying, “The fact that we’ve made the move and are investing money and resources to build world-class studios will only have a positive effect in terms of attracting more production to the UK”.

When the complex is totally complete it will be home of nine stages with four of them being the largest in Europe being larger than 30,000 sq ft each, with four being slightly smaller measuring in at 20,000 sq ft and the last one measuring around 10,000 sq ft thus ensuring the soundstage cater to any perspective directors needs, Warner Bros emphasise this point when they state that the stages will represent about one third of the UK’s total filming stage space.

Everyone involved in the project is excited about the possible long term affects that it will have on the future of British film industries, Warner Bros Studios Leavesdean senior vice president and managing director Dan Dark was full of praise for the future of the studios and their potential, “Leavesden has always been known as a place for big productions, People want big sets, and when you marry that with our back log of 100 acres – no other facility in the UK has that kind of space”. He also goes on to state that interest in the studios are great and that they are already in discussions with three other large feature films to use the complex and have yet to discuss the potential with TV productions.

With the vast amount of interest in the studios already before it being officially ready to open the future is looking bright for Leavesden and the studios.