Pinewood Shepperton plc (“PSP” or the “Company”) announces that it has entered into a 50/50 joint venture with Studio Hamburg GmbH (“SH”), to market their existing studio facilities in Hamburg and Berlin. The combined facilities comprise 10 stages in Berlin and 11 stages in Hamburg ranging from 6,000 sq ft to just over 26,000 sq ft and production accommodation and workshops.
The new joint venture, to be named “Pinewood Studio Berlin Film Services”, will provide a full range of production services for inward investment films and Studio Hamburg GmbH will facilitate access to the German Federal Film Fund. The venture will target the Italian, French, wider European and international film markets which account for a significant proportion of inward investment films in Germany.
Using the resources of PSP, SH and selected third parties, Pinewood Studio Berlin Film Services expects to provide services to between two and four films annually whose production budgets may range from €5m to €50m, from which the joint venture will earn fees. PSP and SH will jointly fund the working capital of the joint venture which is not expected to exceed €0.5m.
Commenting on the announcement Ivan Dunleavy, Chief Executive said:
“I am pleased that we have reached an agreement with Studio Hamburg GmbH. This represents further progress in the Company’s international strategy to build meaningful new revenue streams by exploiting our expertise and brand. This joint venture complements our core UK activities and UK investment programme and follows our initiatives at Pinewood Toronto Studios and Pinewood Iskandar Studios Malaysia”.