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1992 – present
Just off the A40 Western Avenue in North Acton are two large buildings containing film stages just a few hundred metres from each other. They are both owned and operated by the Island Studios group, which also has Cape Island and Gold Island Studios in South Africa and Manchester Island Studios in, er, Manchester.
Apparently the Black Island building was originally a cold store. It was then acquired by AFM Lighting to be turned into a 4-waller studio complex with AFM supplying all the rigging and lighting facilities. The earliest mention I can find of Black Island Studios is in 1992. Nick Soulsby has also written to me to let me know that the video for Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Wish’ was shot at Black Island on stage 1 or 2 in September 1992. He also informs me that Peter Christopherson was a video promo director and his colleagues have told Nick that they used the studios fairly regularly because they were well-equipped and convenient to central London.
AFM merged with Lee Lighting in 2008 to form Panalux.
The studios provide a very useful facility for single camera shoots – especially large scale, glossy commercials and pop promos although I understand that they are occasionally used for TV dramas and single-camera comedies. Sarah in the City was filmed for Sky on stage 5 in 2021. That stage is 16,500 sq ft so a very useful space!
To my knowledge they have not often been used for multi-camera TV shows but Oasis recorded a televised concert on one of the Black Island stages in August 2008. Black Island has also been the location since 2005 for the boardroom scenes in the BBC’s The Apprentice. This is a set of course, not a real boardroom and is shot with multiple cameras but is not vision mixed at the time. Another show shot in a similar way was Channel 4’s Four Rooms. The first series in was shot at a real location but subsequent series from 2012 to 2016 were recorded in a set on one of the stages at Black Island. As a complete contrast, The Dick and Dom Diaries was recorded at Duke’s Island in 2008. I’m also told that David G Croft directed a children’s reality gameshow series called Starfinder here in 2003. Pilots have included Pro-Celebrity Bowls, believe it or not. The excellent Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe was shot on Duke Island’s Blue stage early in 2015 – previous series used studio 2 at Teddington.
The stages are also often used for bands to rehearse tours. A few low-budget features have been filmed here too.
image thanks to Black Island Studios
image thanks to Black Island Studios
The stages available are as follows:
Black Island
stage 1 – 150 x 65ft (9,750 sq ft)
stage 2 – 90 x 65ft (5,850 sq ft)
stage 3 – 100 x 65ft (6,500 sq ft)
stage 4 – 45 x 40ft (1,800 sq ft) – this is a pre-lit green screen studio.
stage 5 – 150 x 110ft (16,500 sq ft)
stage 6 – 90 x 55ft (4,950 sq ft)
Duke’s Island
red stage – 45 x 40ft (1,800 sq ft)
white stage – 80 x 56ft (4,480 sq ft)
blue stage – 70 x 70ft (4,900 sq ft)
green stage – (6,000 sq ft) white cyc with cove in one corner.
All of the stages have cycloramas, some with coves. The three main Duke’s Island stages are fully soundproof and have runway beams for rigging as does stage 5 at Black Island. There are plenty of associated dressing rooms, make-up rooms, production offices etc.