Netflix is to double the size of its base at Shepperton Studios, where it has made productions including the TV series Enola Holmes and films including The Old Guard, as the US streaming service looks to ramp up its British-made output.
Netflix, which spent $1bn (£740m) making about 60 TV shows and films in the UK last year, including The Crown and Sex Education, first struck a deal to make the historic studio in Surrey its permanent production base in 2019 in a race to secure studio space amid a shortage fuelled by the streaming boom.
“We are delighted to announce the expansion of our production presence in the UK,” said Anna Mallett, vice-president of physical production for the UK and EMEA region. “The new contract with Shepperton highlights our commitment to investing in the UK creative industry and will provide a wealth of opportunities and production jobs, from entry level to heads of department.”
The new long-term deal comes as Shepperton Studios, home to films from Alien to A Clockwork Orange, prepares to more than double in size.
Parent company Pinewood Studios, where films from the Bond franchise to Star Wars are shot, has received planning permission to expand Shepperton from 14 stages to 31 stages. Netflix will start using the expanded site on completion in 2023, but it will not take up all the new space.
“We are thrilled to be going ahead with the next phase of expansion at Shepperton Studios,” said the Pinewood Group chairman, Paul Golding. “We’re especially pleased to be strengthening our partnership with Netflix. Their commitment to expand at Shepperton enables us to continue our investment into this great studio.”
Netflix has been ramping up the amount of studio space it has access to in the UK, its largest production base outside the US, in line with annual increases in its content budget. The company recently signed a deal with Longcross Studios in Chertsey, near Shepperton, used by productions such as Skyfall, War Horse and Call the Midwife.