Sunset Studios Pivots From Plan To Develop Major Soundstage Complex Outside US
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Hollywood Reporter.
This is the sub-heading.
Operator Hudson Pacific and investment giant Blackstone had envisioned a 91-acre site in North London to have 21 soundstages totaling 470,000 square feet.
These two paragraphs give more details.
Plans have been formally put on hold for a 91-acre film and TV soundstage complex outside of London that had been billed as a major foray for the Sunset Studios brand outside the United States.
Sunset Studios, owned by operator Hudson Pacific along with significant investor Blackstone, had announced the project in 2021 during what may have been the height of the streaming content spending boom on film and TV projects.
This Google Map shows the site today.
Note.
- The North-South road is the A10.
- The roundabout , is where Winston Churchill Way meets the A10.
- The dual-carriageway going West from the roundabout is Lieutenant Ellis Way.
- Construction of a data centre for Google seems to have started to the North-West of the roundabout.
- Lieutenant Ellis Way would have separated the data centre from the studios.
In Google Starts Building £790m Site In Hertfordshire, I say more about building the data centre.
This Google Map shows the area South of the roundabout, where Winston Churchill Way meets the A10.
Note.
- The North-South road is the A10.
- The green patch of land to the South-East of the roundabout where Winston Churchill Way meets the A10 appears to be ripe for development.
- Looking at the green patch with a higher resolution, the land is little more than high class scrub beloved of newts.
- The London Overground line to Cheshunt runs down the East side of the site.
- To the North, the London Overground crosses Winston Churchill Way to get to Theobalds Grove station.
- To the South, the London Overground crosses the M25 to get to Turkey Street station.
- The M25 runs across the bottom of the map, through junction 25.
- The site to the West of the A10 between the two roundabouts, was the site reserved for Sunset Studios.
- The site appears to have been concreted.
What is going to happen to the Sunset Studios site now?
AI Putin Film Puts Russian President In Nappies
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Patryk Vega has attracted the attention of Kremlin agents with his wild new ‘deepfake’ biopic that is set to be released in Britain
These first three paragraphs add more to the story.
When he is not plotting invasions or political terror, President Putin likes to watch old Soviet war films. Now he has the opportunity to watch himself in a starring role on the big screen, but it’s doubtful he will enjoy what he sees.
A new AI-assisted film that is released this month about Putin’s life features him wearing soiled adult nappies, working as a taxi driver after the collapse of the Soviet Union and cheating on his former wife.
The film, entitled Putin, is the work of Patryk Vega, a Polish director who is best known for his gory depictions of the criminal underworld. He has described it as the world’s “first deepfake” film.
If it is shown near me, I think I’ll go and see it.
There is a trailer on the internet, that looks professional.
When I was growing up in the 1960s, Polish films had an Art House following.
I particularly remember two.
Both films were by Roman Polanski.
New Private Cinema Hidden Under A London Overground Line Where Drinks, Pizza And Nachos Are Brought To Your Seat
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on MyLondon.
There has been some disquiet over the sale of railway arches by Network Rail to private equity.
Is this an example of what is going to happen?
If so, I like it.
The Location Of Sunset Studios In Broxbourne
This article on HertsLIve discloses the location of the new Sunset Studios in Broxbourne.
This is said.
Land to the west of Waltham Cross has been bought and is allocated in Broxbourne Borough’s Local Plan 2018 – 2033.
It’s just off J25 on the M25 and is thought to be land on either side of the A10 Great Cambridge Road.
James Seppala, Head of Blackstone Real Estate Europe, said: “The site is on the north-west corner of the M25-A10 junction. It’s ideal given its accessibility across Hertfordshire, into Central London, to London’s airports due to its proximity to the M25, and it has the scale for the scheme we’re planning to develop.
“Highways England are expanding the motorway junction currently which is helpful as well.
This Google Map shows the location.
Note.
- The M25 runs across the bottom of the map.
- The A10 runs North-South between the two roundabouts.
- Newsprinters Broxbourne sits on a forty-acre site and is the largest newspaper printing site in the world.
I would expect that the brown agricultural site is where Sunset Studios will be located.
I have one big question.
Is It The Right Place For The Studios?
I know nothing about making films, but from what has been said, this development will produce up to 4,500 jobs.
How are all these people going to get in to work every day?
The site may have a good road network, but it doesn’t have a nearby rail connection.
But in my quote from Herts Live, this is said.
It’s just off J25 on the M25 and is thought to be land on either side of the A10 Great Cambridge Road.
Does that mean it includes the Newsprinter site as well?
This Google Map shows that site.
The site seems to be closed in by roads and on the Eastern side by the Cheshunt branch of the London Overground.
- It is a double-track railway.
- It runs between London Liverpool Street and Cheshunt stations.
- It only runs two trains per hour (tph) at present, but it has been designed to handle upwards of four tph.
- The trains on the route are new eight-car Class 710 trains, each of which can hold up to 1,300 passengers.
Could Sunset Studios be thinking about a rail-connected studio complex?
- Liverpool Street will be well-connected through Crossrail to much of London including Heathrow and Canary Wharf.
- Cheshunt is connected to Cambridge and Stansted.
- There are fifteen stations between Liverpool Street and Cheshunt, which must surely mean easy access to the complex for a massive number of potential employees.
A station at the complex, would certainly seem a possible move to cut the amount of road traffic travelling to and from the complex.
Riding Past The Sunset Studios Site On The London Overground
I took these pictures of the area around the Sunset Studios site from a train going North to Cheshunt.
Note, that when the line was reopened in 1960, British Rail left wide margins and from my pictures and the Google Map indicates that building a station on this stretch of line wouldn’t be the most challenging of tasks.
Any Politician Who Advocates A Circuit Breaker Is Ignoring The Dynamics
As a Control Engineer, trying to control things with an on-off control like a circuit breaker is like trying to ride a bike only turning hard left or hard right.
We need to apply lots of small actions to nudge the pandemic to a safe equilibrium with the UK population.
- A small action, I would do is shut betting shops, as this can be done on-line and most are owned by big groups, so commercial damage wouldn’t be great. Some staff surely could be redeployed.
- I would also close down all religious services with more than six people. Obviously, God is working on a bigger project at the moment and is too busy to help with the pandemic.
- I would also encourage working from home where possible, as that has been shown to reduce spread.
But perhaps we need to take some serious dramatic action.
Why not release the latest James Bond film on a Saturday evening on free-to-air television? And do it worldwide, except to China!
It wouldn’t do the cinemas any good, but if they got on with the next one, if this one is any good, everybody will flock to see it.
An Inappropriate Advert
I didn’t think that this taxi-advert was in good taste.
No Time To Die has been put back to the 12th of November.
If The Wig Fits, They’ll Wear It
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in the diary in today’s copy of The Times.
Apparently, there has been criticism, of the new film; The Children Act, about the wearing of wigs by barristers.
The tag line of the story, quoting a daily e-mail called The Brief is.
Who cares about accuracy?” The Americans expect to see English lawyers wearing bloody wigs.
C rarely wore her wig, if ever.
In fact, in one case that involved some Americans, they asked her, where they could buy one, so they could take it home as a souvenir.
Will Danny Boyle Direct The Next Bond Film? Here’s What We Know So Far
The title of this post is the same as this article on the BBC web site.
Certainly today’s news gives lots of ideas for a plot.
The Last Cowboy Rides On
Kirk Douglas is a hundred today.
I always liked his film; Lonely Are The Brave, ever since I watched it late one night, whilst programming Artemis.
Happy Birthday, Kirk!
The Anonymous Widower 