Pinewood Studios and National Film and Television School announce filmmaker training base

A new education and training facility is planned within a £450m expansion to Pinewood Studios

The production studios behind James Bond and Star Wars films are set to join with the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in a collaboration to train filmmakers.

An education and training centre is due to be included at the planned Screen Hub UK at Pinewood Studios, close to Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire.

Facilities will include shooting space, workshops, offices and seminar rooms.

The NFTS said it would help develop the UK's entertainment industry workforce.

Films, TV series, adverts and pop videos have been made at Pinewood Studios for more than 80 years - from Oliver Twist and the Carry On series, to sci-fi thriller Alien and several of the Marvel movies.

The dedicated training facility is set to be within the £450m expansion to its current site, announced by the Pinewood Group last year, which it is hoped will create about 3,500 jobs and also include the Pinewood Studios Experience, a film-inspired attraction.

It described Screen Hub UK as a "screen industries global growth hub" based on a 77-acre site to the south and adjacent to the existing studios.

Aerial view of Pinewood in 2015

In what is claimed to be the first partnership of its kind, NFTS said the joint venture with the Pinewood Group will allow practical filmmaking to be taught there.

NFTS director, Jon Wardle, said: "The scale and ambition of this partnership will level up the talent incoming to the UK screen sector, ensuring global productions will benefit from a highly qualified workforce, trained on site at one of the most exciting and progressive studios in the world."

The 007 stage is one of the world's largest and was used in Skyfall and Spectre directed by Sam Mendes (R) and starring actor Daniel Craig

Andrew Smith, from the Pinewood Group, added that the partnership was "an exciting step forward in our commitment to providing a dedicated training and education hub and meeting the growing needs of the UK film industry".

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the new partnership will "train the talent of the future and create even more high quality jobs in the years to come".

Buckinghamshire Council is due to make a decision on the Screen Hub UK planning application later this year.

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