Pretium Ventures Report: Pinewood Shepperton Studios to Invest in UK Film Industry

March 21, 2011 - PRLog -- Pinewood Shepperton studios have confirmed they are to pump millions into the UK film industry. No stranger to big budget hits, they are best known for the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter films as well as that little known James Bond fellow. Pinewood Shepperton owns the Pinewood, Shepperton and Teddington studios making them one of the most prevalent suppliers of stage and studio space in the world.

Despite Pinewood Shepperton’s link to big budget films it has recently disclosed an investment plan for low budget Brit-flicks. For those who are unfamiliar with British cinema, think cult classics. Think Trainspotting, Withnail & I, and Monty Python’s Life of Brian. This is good news for the UK film industry. Pinewood Shepperton will invest in films with a budget of approximately £2 million ($3.2m) and will inject up to a further 20% per film, that’s £400,000 English pounds.

This may sound like a lot of money but, in film terms, it’s a drop in the ocean with the expenditure of films like 2009’s Avatar at approximately £173 million ($280m) and Spiderman III coming in at £159 million ($258m).

Chief executive Ivan Dunleavy confirmed this when, according to the BBC, he stated: "Although our financial commitment to each film will be relatively small, we can, in addition, offer British films access to world class facilities and production expertise at Pinewood and Shepperton studios, which would normally be beyond their budget."

Dunleavy, CE, confirmed that Pinewood Shepperton is looking to invest in four lucky low budget films per year. Pinewood Shepperton is in a position to do this with a 31% rise in pre-tax profits for the year ending 31st December 2010.

One could do worse than investing in the British film industry. Strike a low-budget hit, and you may as well have struck oil with hits like Slumdog Millionaire grossing over £87 million ($141m) by 2009 and, more recently, The King’s Speech which is tipped to gross over £185 million ($300m).

This move may have been prompted by Pinewood Shepperton’s minor loss in TV revenue as a result of both the BBC and ITV’s shift to film more shows using their own facilities – no doubt another recession related cut-back.

Whatever the reason, it is positive news for British cinema when you consider it is notoriously difficult to get low-budget or indie flicks off the ground. Investors tend to prefer well established companies, writers and big name stars as a hedge against poor ratings and DVD sales. Original scripts and new talent, that are more than worthy of investment, are often overlooked for remakes and inadequate sequels. Pinewood Shepperton, with 75 years of experience, should serve as a silver lining to the dark cloud of the recession and can be justifiably proud of its return to its heritage in British film.

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Pretium Ventures is a Hong Kong based investment firm that specializes in promoting successful growth of young companies. As a venture Capital firm Pretium Ventures is unique in their client centric approach to supporting the growth of businesses as well as their ability to cater to small to medium sized individual and institutional investors.