Bristol’s standing as a major national centre for film and TV production and the wider creative sector is to be boosted next week with the opening of a new studio.
Called Box7, the £1m one-stop-shop facility is based in a former warehouse at the Skyline Park creative campus in Brislington.
It includes a 5,500 sq ft blackout studio room and heated soundstage plus podcasting rooms and production offices.
Bristol event technology firm Pytch, which is behind the studio and is based on the same site, believes it will a perfect resource for a wide range of Bristol creatives – from TV production companies to podcasters, video shooters and more – as it boasts a number of different facilities on one site.
With a large number of crews operating in Bristol due to the city’s burgeoning film and TV industry, the demand for more studio space has been growing. This is despite the opening earlier this year of the TBY2, the £12m expansion project for The Bottle Yard studio complex in Hengrove.
ITV and other big names have already filmed at Box7 ahead of its opening.
Box7 will also host club nights and other events in its fully blacked-out and acoustically treated studio, with the first planned for next month with Bristol institution Alfresco Disco.
Box7 will be officially opened next week by West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris.
He said: “This is a massive vote of confidence in Bristol’s world-leading creative industries, and our amazing West of England region.
“Box7 is a really unique space, hosting all manner of West of England creatives, whether that be podcasters, filmmakers or DJs. It sends yet another strong message that our amazing creative sector here in the West of England is thriving.
“Our region has always been one of innovation and imagination. Only recently, Disney+ have checked in to film at the state-of-the-art, West of England Mayoral Combined Authority-funded Bottle Yard Studios. And now we’ve got another brand-new studio for creatives in this city, and across the country, to come make use of, and do what they do best.
“I’m truly proud to back our fantastic creative talent here in the West of England”.
Pytch founder Johnny Palmer said: “This studio is our contribution to the creative scene of Bristol – we are excited to see commercial filming happen as well as supporting pro-bono work for local artists and indies.
“The property the studio is in was formerly a kit storage warehouse, but we have invested heavily in acoustic and light treatments to make it an ideal filming location.
“It has been a big investment for us, but we really believe in the creative scene of Bristol and are honoured to be part of the ongoing development of the UK’s creative scene”.
Last month Bristol Film Office released figures showing the film and TV industry added an estimated £20.1m to the city’s economy in the 2022-23 financial year.
Some 220 recorded productions were hosted in the city, with 838 filming days taking place on location assisted by the city council’s Film Office or at the city’s Bottle Yard Studios film complex.
Just over 500 licenses were issued by the Film Office permitting filming to take place on council-owned streets, properties and green spaces.
