Netflix eyes studio space at UK’s Pinewood Studios

Netflix is looking to lease at least a third of the UK’s Pinewood Studios as it aims to boost production capabilities out of the region.

According to The Telegraph, the streaming giant is close to striking a deal to lease around 150,000 square feet of space at the 80-year-old studio in Buckinghamshire, which is home to the 59,000 square-foot 007 stage, as well as 20 other stages and three TV studios.

Recent credits at Pinewood include Avengers: Endgame as well as BBC One’s Wedding Day Winners and the first series of CBeebies and Universal Kids’ Moon And Me.

The deal is believed to cost upwards of around £6m a year, and may span 10 years with a five-year break clause, as per the industry norm for studio leasing.

Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos recently told The Evening Standard that the business was in the market to buy British production space.

The streamer is aggressively ramping up its UK footprint. Last year, it hired Sky head of drama Anne Mensah to oversee British series production, and – as revealed exclusively by TBI – recently hired Sky development head Lindsay Salt.

Recently UK productions launched on Netflix include comedy drama Sex Education and physical gameshow Flinch.