A huge film studio is set to hit Dagenham, east London.
The £110 million project will include six sound stages, workshops for set construction, post-production offices and hair and make-up spaces. Dagenham Studios will feature 140,000 square feet of sound stages, 85,200 sq ft of offices and 174,500 sq ft of workshops, all on the 22-acre site of a former pharmaceutical factory.
A proposal for the new studios, hailed as London’s biggest, won approval from Barking and Dagenham council this week.
Council Labour leader Darren Rodwell said: “This will mean thousands of jobs and educational opportunities for local people. Where once Dagenham was known for Fords and factories, we will be making films and a new bright new future for our borough.”
This comes nine months after Pacifica Ventures, the initial investors, pulled out of the deal over Brexit concerns. They had even gone as far as designing the studios.
But the council, along with investors Be First decided to continue the project.
“Barking and Dagenham is already a magnet for movie-makers. Two of the UK’s biggest features were filmed in Dagenham last year — Black Widow by Marvel and Morbius by Sony Pictures,” said the council’s head of film, Lisa Dee.
“As London is moving a lot of work east, we are finding more crew and production workers are actually living in east, south-east and north London areas, so we’re on their doorstep, which makes Dagenham Studios such a great geographical fit the next generation of creatives.”
It is estimated that the project will bring over 1,200 new jobs to the area.