A large film and TV studio in Leavesden near Watford, Hertfordshire, where the Harry Potter films were made and which hosts big productions today.
Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden is a film and television studio in Hertfordshire, near Watford. It rents space to film and TV productions rather than making programmes itself. According to its own pages, it has 19 sound stages, a large backlot and workshops, two large water tanks, production offices, costume and prop stores and an on-site post-production facility, and it hosts productions of every size. Recent films and series made there include The Batman, Wonder Woman, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Paddington 2, the Fantastic Beasts films and Pennyworth.
The site began as Leavesden Aerodrome, built from 1939, where De Havilland made Mosquito and Halifax aircraft in the Second World War, and later Rolls-Royce made aircraft and helicopter engines until the factory closed in 1992. The 1994 film GoldenEye turned its hangars into a film studio. Warner Bros. leased the site from 2000 to make all eight Harry Potter films and bought it in 2010, reportedly the first Hollywood major to set up its own studio outside the US, which the studio says it opened in 2012 after investing more than £150 million. We found no mission statement, only a description of the studio as "the first choice for filmmakers worldwide".
The studio's address is Warner Drive, Leavesden, Hertfordshire, WD25 7LP, and the nearest station is Watford Junction. The Making of Harry Potter studio tour is on the same site, and the Three Rivers Museum Trust says the tour draws visitors to the area. The studio's registered address is in London. Its pages say there are more than 300,000 square feet of workshop space and over 100,000 square feet of office space. Its post-production facility, run by Warner Bros. De Lane Lea and opened in 2019, offers a screening room, a review theatre and grading and dailies suites.
On culture and people, the sources we read are mostly about the buildings and the productions rather than the staff. The Three Rivers Museum Trust blog links the site to the local aircraft heritage, quoting memories held in an oral history archive. A modern studio like this runs as a mix of permanent staff and the many specialist crews who work on productions there, so its character changes with whatever is being filmed.
A studio of this kind employs people in stage and facilities management, production services and bookings, carpentry, scenic and prop workshops, lighting and scaffolding hire, security, transport, site operations, health and safety, finance and the post-production team. Interests in building, engineering, design, film or operations can all lead here. The studio's website is the place to check for current vacancies.
Website: www.wbsl.com
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