verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message pinewood studios gateway pinewood studios is a british film studio and television studio located in iver heath buckinghamshire england approximately 20 miles 32 km west of central london and 7 miles from windsor . 1 2 it is run by pinewood group . the studios have been the base for many productions over the years from big budget films to television shows commercials and pop promos and is well known as the home of the james bond . contents 1 history 1.1 1930s 1.2 1940s 1.3 1950s 1.4 1960s 1.5 1970s 1.6 1980s 1.7 1990s 1.8 2000s 1.9 2010s 2 stages studios and locations 2.1 burnham beeches and black park 2.2 pinewood atlanta 2.3 pinewood iskandar malaysia studios 3 water filming 4 post production 5 project pinewood 6 enter the pitch 7 production history 7.1 1930s 1950s 7.2 1960s 1970s 7.3 1980s 1990s 7.4 2000 2009 7.5 2010 2016 7.6 television 8 see also 9 references 10 further reading 11 external links history edit pinewood studios was built on the estate of heatherden hall which was a large victorian house . it was purchased by canadian financier and mp for brentford and chiswick lt. col. grant morden who added refinements such as a ballroom a turkish bath and an indoor squash court . due to its seclusion it was used as a discreet meeting place for high ranking politicians and diplomats and the agreement to create the anglo irish treaty was signed there . on morden s death in 1934 building tycoon charles boot bought the land and turned it into a country club . the ballroom was converted into a restaurant and many of the bedrooms became furnished suites . 1930s edit in 1935 millionaire methodist and flour magnate j. arthur rank created a partnership with boot and together transformed the estate into a film studio . boot based designs for the studio complex upon the latest ideas being employed by film studios in hollywood california . boot named the new studio pinewood because of the number of trees which grow there and because it seemed to suggest something of the american film centre in its second syllable . in december of that year construction began with a new stage completed every three weeks . the studios were finished nine months later having cost 1 million approx . 37 million at 2012 prices . five stages were initially completed and a provision for an enclosed water tank capable of holding 65 000 gallons which is still in use . in the years that followed he also undertook further work on both the pinewood film studios and the denham film studios both of which had by then become a part of their newly formed rank organisation . on 30 september 1936 the studio complex was officially opened 3 by dr leslie burgin parliamentary secretary to the board of trade . the first film director to use the facilities was herbert wilcox completing london melody 1937 featuring anna neagle portions of which had already been filmed at british and dominions imperial studios in elstree before a fire there halted production . the first film to be made entirely at pinewood was talk of the devil 1936 directed by carol reed . there followed a prolific period of pinewood and british film history with pinewood following the studios adopting the unit system an american industry practice . this enabled several pictures to be filmed simultaneously and ultimately pinewood achieved the highest output of any studio in the world . 4 1940s edit wikimedia commons has media related to no. 5 army film and photographic unit . during world war ii pinewood was requisitioned and subsequently the crown film unit no. 5 army film and photographic unit royal air force film production unit and polish air force film unit were based there . the crown film unit completed many classic wartime documentaries including roy boulting s academy award winning desert victory . fires were started coastal command and western approaches were all filmed there during this period . as well as the armed forces using pinewood the royal mint and lloyd s of london were installed onto sound stages and opened for business for the duration . the company of youth the rank organisation acting school often referred to as the charm school which launched several film careers was founded in 1945 . the next year pinewood re opened for non war related business . two landmarks in british film making made at pinewood were released in 1948 oliver twist directed by david lean and powell and pressburger s the red shoes . due to a shortfall in funds brought about by financial overspends the previous year rank did not have enough money to market the red shoes sufficiently at first in the us but it went on to become rank s biggest earner up to that point grossing over 1 million the equivalent of 26 million in 2012 terms . 5 in 1948 john davis was appointed managing director . 6 by the following year rank had run up an overdraft of 16 million 7 the equivalent of 364.5 million in 2012 and announced a loss of 3.5 million 8 mainly due to big budget flops . one of the largest of these had been caesar and cleopatra 1946 which was originally budgeted at 250 000 but which eventually cost 1 278 000 the equivalent of 33 million in 2012 . 5 1950s edit during the 1950s the financially successful carry on ... and doctor films were shot at pinewood produced on behalf of rank by peter rogers and his wife betty e. box and directed by the brothers gerald thomas and ralph thomas respectively . doctor in the house was the most popular box office film of 1954 in great britain . the norman wisdom comedies were also filmed at pinewood . 9 1960s edit goldfinger avenue the 1960s were buoyant years for pinewood which was no longer solely dependent on the rank organisation to fill its stages now renters producers hiring the sound stages for a film by film agreement were using half of the stages as pinewood turned into a four walls facility . 10 the james bond franchise began at pinewood with the terence young directed dr. no 1962 and has continued to be based at the studios since then . j. arthur rank by now lord rank retired as chairman in 1962 and was succeeded by john davis who had begun to move the rank organisation away from mass film production and towards more profitable and less risky businesses like bingo and holidays . 1970s edit the 1970s were an uncertain period for pinewood and the film industry in general with the studios being used more for television programmes including itc entertainment s ufo 1970 the persuaders 1971 starring tony curtis and roger moore and space 1999 1975 77 . throughout the lean years of the 1970s the superman franchise almost certainly saved the studios from financial crisis . 1980s edit four james bond movies for your eyes only ; octopussy ; a view to a kill and the living daylights amongst several other very large productions such as aliens and tim burton s batman kept the studio busy during the decade . 1990s edit due in large part to unfavourable uk tax laws for inward investment in the uk film industry the 1990s were precarious and witnessed an all time low in british film production generally but many large scale productions such as alien 3 tim burton s batman returns and three further bond films goldeneye tomorrow never dies and the world is not enough kept pinewood operating . the rank group owned the studio until 2001 when they sold pinewood to a group led by michael grade and ivan dunleavy . the purchase of shepperton studios from a consortium headed by ridley and tony scott gave rise to the pinewood studios group with both uk and international interests including shepperton studios teddington studios pinewood toronto studios pinewood indomina studios pinewood studio berlin and pinewood iskandar malaysia studios combining three studios as well as new and modern state of the art purpose built facilities . 11 2000s edit in 2009 pinewood and shepperton received a bafta award for their outstanding british contribution to cinema . 12 2010s edit the pinewood studios group was subject to a hostile takeover approach in 2011 . manchester based the peel group acquired a 73 % stake but warren james jewellers retained a 27 % stake so preventing a full takeover . as of 2012 pinewood s management is waiting to see if the financial services authority will cancel the stock market listing in recognition of the fact that nearly all the shares are held by two groups . 13 stages studios and locations edit the 007 stage at pinewood studios in march 2006 before the july fire and rebuilding main article 007 stage the 007 stage was originally built for the bond film the spy who loved me 1977 and featured a massive water tank one of the largest in europe . 14 the stage was destroyed by fire in 1984 ; it was rebuilt four months later and renamed albert r. broccoli s 007 stage in time for filming to commence on a view to a kill . 15 another fire on 30 july 2006 seriously damaged the stage causing the roof to partly collapse . 16 17 construction of a new stage began on 18 september and was completed in under six months . 18 since then the stage has accommodated large productions including prince of persia the sands of time 2010 quantum of solace 2008 and the whole fishing village from mamma mia 2008 was built on the stage . as well as the 007 stage which is the largest stage at any of the studios under the pinewood studios group at 59 000 sq ft the studio has fifteen other stages ranging from just 1 728 sq ft to cater for productions of all sizes . one of those studios the t stage is a specialist stage for both television and film productions and the studios second largest stage at 30 000 sq ft. 19 pinewood studios paid tribute to richard attenborough s body of work by naming a purpose built film and television stage after him . the richard attenborough stage has an area of 30 000 sq ft. in his absence because of illness lord puttnam and pinewood chairman lord grade officially unveiled the stage on 23 april 2012 . 20 opposite it is a post production block named in honour of stanley kubrick . 21 the studio also has two specialist tv studios named tv one and tv two complete with integral galleries tv studio floors tv lighting grids and sd or hd facilities . both studios stand at just under 9 000 sq ft. as stated earlier pinewood is situated on the old estate of heatherden hall which still stands today . the mansion its gardens and other parts of the studios have been used in various productions over the years . peeping tom 1960 shows people driving out through the main gate and has various shots in the studios showing things behind the camera offices and corridors . return to the edge of the world 1978 includes shots of director michael powell driving into the studio . the iconic main gate now no longer used due to the construction of a purpose built security entrance 500 yards further along the road also features in my week with marilyn 2011 when eddie redmayne greets judi dench . this film also contains many shots of the dressing room corridors in the main make up block . heatherden hall converted to