First interview with those behind plans for Medina Film Studios

Those involved with the creation of Medina Film Studios were celebrating today, after planning permission was granted for new film studios at Kingston Marine Park on the River Medina.

In the first interview with those behind the plans, OnTheWight spoke with Dave Godfrey and Neil Blewett — two of the partners — to find out what’s next now that planning permission can be ticked off the to-do list.

First investor announced
They revealed details about the first investor for the project, as Dave told OnTheWight,

“We have our main investor and construction partner, Serious Stages, and they have backed the project to the tune of 50 per cent.”

Serious Stages already works in this field and has delivered stages for Mission Impossible, Netflix, Paramount, Apple TV, Amazon, Disney and Lucas.

Dave added,

“There’re an an ideal partner as their background also includes Isle of Wight Festival, Glastonbury etc, and we’ve been working with them since 2018.”

The third partner in the project is Duncan Heath, one of the key talent agents in the world, both for performance talent and writers.

The studios
The film studios would be built along the River Medina at Kingston Marine Park and comprises two 15,000 and two 10,000 sq ft sound stages, plus 20,000 sq ft of workshops and 14,000 sq ft of offices and support facilities.

Dave explained,

“Our aim is to roll that out in a phased way, probably building half of it in terms of stages, with offices and workshops, and add the other two stages slightly further down the road.”

Dave went on to add,

“We’ve already opened conversations with production companies, and it may be that they need the whole thing straight away and we’ll really have to get a wiggle on to build.
“That’s the reality we’d like to have, but we now go back to the City for the second half of our investment and then we rock up in our wellies and get on with it.”

Other investor
As Dave pointed out, now planning permission has been granted, he and his partners will go back to the small number of other interested investors. He explained,

“We will now sit down around a table and have a bit of a beauty parade with them to seek a single investor for the other half.”

Blewett: “2025 is looking really promising and really busy”
Duncan, Dave and Neil have been involved in the project for two and a half years, so it’s been a long time coming. Neil explained,

“A lot of it is down to the industry where the actors and writers went on strike and the industry is like a ghost town still, but 2025 is looking really promising and really busy, studios are taking bookings and this is where we want to take advantage of what’s coming down the road.

“We will be giving it our all to make sure it happens”

In terms of timeline, the team hope that productions — including high end TV series and low to mid-budget feature films — will be able to be brought in by 2025.

The application
The application for the creation of film and TV studios, including four sound stages, two workshops and production support facilities attracted just two objections to the plans, with at least 23 supportive comments.

Nineteen conditions were attached to the approval including mitigation plans for biodiversity, a construction environmental management plan, operation processes to mitigate noise issues, conditions for materials used, lighting, working hours and more.

Support from Cabinet member
Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, the Cabinet member for Economy, Regeneration, Culture and Leisure, spoke in favour of the application. She highlighted the opportunities the film studios will present for people of all ages, with access to many highly skilled jobs, as well as peripheral industries benefiting from supplying the studios.

Dave Godfrey also explained to OnTheWight that there is already a fairly strong supply chain of support professionals on the Island,

“The depth is quite something, everything from sound and camera through to construction and design and costume, and there are producers and artists on the Island.
“So we are building a database with the Island’s existing production service company.”

Councillor Jones-Evans explained that the permission had been a long time coming — the plans first emerged in November 2022 — but that she has been working with partners in education and the visitor economy to prepare the Island for this “significant opportunity”.

Jones-Evans: “We could bring Hollywood to the Island for a new generation”
The Cabinet member went on to explain that since Arts Council England declared the Island a Priority Place three years ago, it has brought more than £7m of investment into the Island.

She finished her speech making reference to Dame Donna Langley, an Islander who went to Hollywood, worked hard and now sits as Chairman of NBCUniversal Studio Group and Chief Content Officer (learn more about her rise on Desert Island Discs).

She said,