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Behind the scenes at the studios where Wicked was made

Wendy Hurrell
BBC News
Universal Pictures/Sky Studios Elstree Actors inside a circular stage built to look like a library, with a film camera to the right of the pictureUniversal Pictures/Sky Studios Elstree
A scene from Wicked being filmed at Sky Studios Elstree's Sound Stage 2

Film and high-end TV production spend in the UK was £5.6bn last year - and the biggest film was Wicked, made at Sky Studios Elstree in Hertfordshire.

The managing director of the studios, Noel Tovey, says it has been "a bit of a rollercoaster" with back-to-back films made here since it opened in February 2023 - the latest facility in the rapid studio expansion around London.

Tovey says the film industry has had challenges, among them Hollywood industrial action and budget cuts to streaming services, but there's been a "slow recovery through 2024".

In terms of how the industry is benefiting the local area, Sky says payroll postcodes on recent productions demonstrate that about a quarter of the production crews live within a 10-mile radius of Sky Studios Elstree.

Universal Pictures/Sky Studios Elstree An actor painted green and wearing a withes hat stands with another actor with long blond hair and frilly pink dress, they hold hands, people stand behind them in the background, some are dancingUniversal Pictures/Sky Studios Elstree
Wicked, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, was the biggest film of 2024 in the UK

Underneath the gleaming silver arch and around the freshly landscaped courtyard, there is industrious activity inside the studios.

The production bell signalling the start and end of takes rings out repeatedly. Crew members drift out of the sound stages, wearing overalls or hi-vis tabards. There has been constant film production here since the studios opened in February 2023, with the cameras rolling on Wicked before the building was even complete.

The noise of the mini-forklift trucks and golf buggies moving busily around the site is completely silenced as the doors shut on the 25,000sq ft (2,320sq m) Sound Stage 2.

The scene in Wicked for the song Dancing Through Life, with its spinning library and flying books, was filmed here.

Sky Studios Elstree Skyview of Sky Studios surrounded by green fields. Sky Studios Elstree
Sky Studios Elstree was opened in February 2023 and has 12 sound stages
Sky Studios Elstree A huge room with a polished concrete floors, black walls and lighting rigs on the ceilingSky Studios Elstree
Inside the Sound Stage 2 at Sky Studios Elstree

"Every costume and every film set, all the props, all the special effects rigs, everything was made here in the studio," Tovey tells BBC London.

"To see the finished result on the big screen, and for it to win awards, has been the icing on the cake."

Wicked, which had the biggest cinema opening for a musical adaptation of a stage show, won two Academy Awards at this year's Oscars, including for Best Production Design, accepted by Londoner Nathan Crowley - plaudits that emphasise the quality of the crews working in film around London.

"A mile down the road is Elstree Studios; it's celebrating its 100th year this year and that just shows there are generations of crew that have grown up in this area," Tovey says.

Universal Pictures/Sky Studios Elstree An actor wearing a frilly pink dress stands with her arms out, surrounded by film crew, one has a clapper board. The crew are wearing masksUniversal Pictures/Sky Studios Elstree
Cast and crew on the Wicked set

Tax breaks make the Home Counties an attractive place to make film and high-end TV but there are other elements that have to come together, Tovey says.

"Being in the right place is crucial - for the crew base, for the supply chain, for easy access to central London and transport links - but also to have the room to build a facility of this scale."

A man in a tweed suit jacker smiles
Noel Tovey, previously an executive at Pinewood, Shepperton and Leavesden studios, started out sweeping floors and copying scripts

Despite the optimistic message coming from Sky Studios Elstree, it has been a punishing few years for the industry.

The post-Covid spending spree in high-end TV stalled - shows made in the UK saw a £598m spend last year, 22% down on 2023 - as streaming platforms cut back their budgets, while UK box office takings are still 22% below their 2019 level.

In 2023, the industrial action by writers in the US had some impact in the UK. Production on Wicked was halted 10 days before filming was complete. For freelancers that make up the majority of the workforce, there is significant job insecurity.

Universal Pictures/Sky Studios Elstree Two actors, one painted green, look off to the right of the picture. There is a setting sun and field of red flowers in the backgroundUniversal Pictures/Sky Studios Elstree
Wicked was one of the box office sensations of 2024

But that doesn't stop young people in Borehamwood wanting to get into the industry.

Eve Byrne is on a 12-month paid traineeship at Sky Studios Elstree. "I think for so many people it feels like something really cool that you'd love to do but you have no clue how you'd actually get there yourself," she says.

The Future Talent Programme is in its third year and of the 32 trainees taken on so far, a large proportion live locally - and 70% have gone on to work in the industry.

Ishani Mistry is an alumna. "I was lucky enough to be a runner on set [on Wicked] so I got to see Cynthia [Erivo] singing Defying Gravity whilst being harnessed in this contraption that was flipping her upside down and doing a loop-the-loop in the air on the broomstick," she says.

Sky Studios Elstree is hoping that the sequel, Wicked: For Good, which is due to be released in November, will contribute to the continuing recovery of the UK film industry.

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