Elstree Studios (Shenley Road)
| Elstree Studios | |
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Elstree Studios at Shenley Road, Borehamwood
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 Location within Hertfordshire
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| General information | |
| Type | Film and television studios |
| Address | Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, WD6 1JG |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°39′31″N 0°16′33″W / 51.6587°N 0.2758°WCoordinates: 51°39′31″N 0°16′33″W / 51.6587°N 0.2758°W |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Elstree Studios on Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire is a British film and television production facility operated by Elstree Film Studios Limited. One of several facilities historically referred to as Elstree Studios, the Shenley Road studio site opened in 1925.
The facility has passed through a large number of owners, and is currently owned by Hertsmere Borough Council. Noted as the studios used for filming Star Wars and Indiana Jones (its largest studio is known as the George Lucas Soundstage), the studios are used both for film and television productions.
Along with the BBC Elstree Centre on Clarendon Road, a number of the studios on site are leased to BBC Studioworks and are used for recording television productions such as Strictly Come Dancing.
British National Pictures Ltd. purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of land on the south side of Shenley Road and began construction of two large film stages in 1925. After discord among the partners, which by this time included Herbert Wilcox, their solicitor John Maxwell invested and was able to gain control of the company. The first film produced there was Madame Pompadour (1927).
By 1927, Maxwell controlled all the stock, and the company was renamed British International Pictures (BIP) and the second stage was ready for production in 1928. Maxwell placed Alfred Hitchcock under contract in a 3-year, 12 picture deal, and after several silents, he was responsible for Blackmail (1929), the first British talkie released, which was produced at the studios. At the end of the silent-film era, six new sound stages were built; three of these were sold to the British & Dominions Film Corporation (see below) with BIP retaining the remaining stages. Elstree Calling (1930), made by BIP, was reputedly Britain's first musical film.
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