News / bottle yard studios
£12m expansion at south Bristol film studios
Hengrove’s Bottle Yard Studios is expanding into a neighbouring industrial site as part of a £12m redevelopment that will add three new stages.
The expansion will increase the number of stages on offer at the council-owned facility from eight to 11.
The filming spaces will be accompanied by new production offices, prop stores, costume and makeup areas, and break-out areas.
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Bristol City Council has also committed £1.6m to fund renewal and repair works to make the studios’ existing buildings fit for purpose.
Investment in the current site and new studio provision at Hawkfield Business Park is expected to create 135 jobs during the refurbishment with a further 863 jobs created over the next 10 years through a programme focused on high-end TV skills and developing new talent in south Bristol.
The three new filming spaces at the Bottle Yard will measure 20,000 sq ft, 16,000 sq ft and 7,000 sq ft – image: Bottle Yard Studios
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said that the council’s £1.6m investment coupled with the additional capacity at the Hawkfield site “will bring confidence to the city’s film and TV production sector and harness growth as the demand for on-screen content grows worldwide”.
He said: “The expansion will also create jobs, skills and training opportunities, support the local supply chain and be a major boost to our wider regeneration plans for south Bristol, bringing growth and opportunity into the area.”
Laura Aviles, senior film manager for Bristol City Council responsible for The Bottle Yard Studios and Bristol Film Office, added: “Upping The Bottle Yard’s stage count from eight to 11 at a time when space for filming is at a premium, means we can welcome more of the productions we know are keen to film in Bristol, a city that saw a 225 per cent increase in filming in the first quarter of the current financial year.
“We’re making sure Bristol seizes the opportunities presented by the UK production boom with both hands, so that local crew, companies and new generations of talent can reap the benefits in employment, business and skills development.”
Main photo: Bottle Yard Studios
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