In lockdown, some of us got fat, some of us renovated the garden, some of us got hooked on Bridgerton…. But I decided to build a film & photography studio in Milton Keynes… and I’m really glad I did. It’s been a very sad and difficult time for all of us during the pandemic, but the creative industry was hit hard over the last 16 months and for many of us, we weren’t able to continue doing what we love and it was so heart breaking.
I set up a production company with a friend out of college in Northampton over ten years ago which we grew and it became a successful business. We expanded and employed four full time staff and collaborated with a diverse pool of freelance directors, camera operators, photographers, and sound recordists from Northamptonshire. I found myself shooting for many years in London in studios that overwhelmed me. They opened my eyes to ways of creating content that were not available to me working in Northampton. Giant curved walls called Infinity Coves, painted seamlessly white and seeing gaffers set up and craft light in ways I could have never imagined possible.
2020 was set to be our most financially successful year and there was no sign of us slowing down until the pandemic hit… and everything changed. After months of riding out the storm, furloughing staff and losing clients, sadly our business could not survive and I was forced to close down the company. After doing what I loved for over a decade, I knew I could never do anything else but found myself in an impossible position where there were no other options for me other than to start again create a new business during the pandemic.
So with what started as an idea to build a space that would allow local filmmakers and photographers from Milton Keynes and Northampton to have a creative space, a photography and video studio that they could hire to shoot their own content, grew into something much greater than I could have ever anticipated.
From the very beginning, I always told myself that the studio would never attract big brands or clients from London. The studio was a personal project for me to create something positive out of something so devastating and despite the risks, I feel extremely proud to have achieved my goal.
Once the build was finished, local talent started to enquire and hire the studio for their shoots… however, within two months, I found myself taking photos and videos in the studio for global brands such as TUI, Guinness and Fever Tree, and I couldn’t believe it.
Studio 47 was inspired by the infinity cove studios that I had worked in so often in London.
Despite the creative opportunities that these giant whites walls created, I still sometimes found myself needing more diversity when on a shoot. A need for backgrounds with texture and colour and the studios in London didn’t offer. So considering this, I also added in two additional sets with more character to give people as much versatility as possible in one space…. And now
surprisingly, the demand and interest for these sets are now greater than the infinity cove Studio 47 is now open… please spread the word and let us all keep creating and continue doing the thing we love.
Thank you
Dean
Founder of Studio 47
