Frequently Asked Questions

Ever since we opened our doors in 2012, Warner Bros. has continued to reinvest in the Studio and Tour facilities, creating two world-class businesses at the heart of our local community.

The UK film and TV production industry is booming and our productions are reaching an ever-increasing global audience, with huge critical and commercial success. This is creating thousands of jobs in our industry and contributing a huge amount to the wider UK economy. Our success is also bringing fresh opportunities to Leavesden and the surrounding area.

We’re now looking to the future and have an exciting opportunity to invest further in our Studios. By doing so, we’ll be able to meet the increasing demand for our productions, and continue improving our local environment through green space and ecological improvements, as well as bringing more jobs and economic benefits to our area.

Over the last ten years, we’ve put down incredibly strong roots in the area. Around 60% of WBSL staff live locally to the Studios.

We’re committed to being good neighbours and making a positive social and environmental impact in our area. We’re shaping a new generation of talent through our education and skills development initiatives. As well as continuing to create opportunities for local people wanting to work in the film and TV industry, we’re also dedicated to supporting the many local businesses who work with us.

We’re a local business with a global reputation, and we aim to be an inspiring leader in the creative industries. Based on expansion plans, by 2025 our major contribution to the local economy is forecast to increase to almost 6,000 Full Time Equivalent jobs and contributing over £360m in Gross Value Added.

Our plans will include new sound stages, workshops and production offices. We’ll also be applying for the permanent use of an area of land to the west of the Studios for film production and associated activities. We also plan to create an area of ecological interest, carefully designed to improve biodiversity and provide greater public access for our neighbours.

We’re proposing to develop 11 new sound stages, with corresponding workshop buildings and production office space on the existing Studio site. Permanent external ‘backlot’ will be created on land to the west. The stages and offices will sit along the frontage with Gadeside, helping to create an active and interesting public frontage. Access to the Studios will be from a new ‘southern’ roundabout with thoughtfully designed parking facilities provided on the Island Site to the east.

We firmly believe there will be many benefits. Being able to accommodate the increasing demand for our production space means we’ll be able to provide more career and employment opportunities for local people. Working closely with local businesses and suppliers, a bigger WBSL will bring a wide range of exciting opportunities, enabling us to continue investing in the local area and supporting the local economy.

We’re planning to submit our planning application in Spring 2022. We hope to get a decision before the end of the year. This will enable the landscape and ecology enhancements to commence soon after, before construction works begin in 2023.

On the western side of the Island Site and the eastern boundary of the Studios alongside Gadeside, we‘ll plant new trees, shrubs, perennials and ornamental shrubs and grasses, including species such as geraniums, verbena and lavender.

Around the northern and eastern boundaries of the Island Site, an earth mound will be created and planted with broadleaf woodland. From day one this will help to screen views of parked vehicles, and over time the woodland will grow to screen the external parking area and create ecological interest within the site. The car park will also feature ornamental planting and tall columnar trees, to break up the parking area and further screen views of the building from the east. The parking building has also been designed with strong horizontal elements that will significantly minimise headlight glare and reduce noise.

To reduce the visual impact of activities taking place in the new Backlot area, we are proposing a number of measures. These include creating a 3m high earth mound behind the existing fence, designed so that the existing hedgerow and tree planting are not affected. We’ll also be planting new native woodland along the outer edge and on the top of the earth mound, helping to screen activities within the backlot area.

The car park will be of a similar height to the parameters set by the planning permission granted in 2015 for an office building on the site. It will provide parking within a carefully designed building of 3 to 4 floors. Thoughtful architectural detailing will help to minimise noise and headlight glare, while a planted earth mound will create further screening for local residents.

We are aware of the sensitivity of the site in terms of its visibility and green belt status, which is why we’re investing in significant additional landscape mitigation. This will take the form of carefully located earth bunds constructed behind the existing security fence. These will be a minimum of 3m in height, will be planted with new native woodland, and be designed so that the existing hedgerow and tree planting are not affected. This will help to screen activities within the backlot area.

We’ll be setting strict parameters for the use of Backlot 2, through a detailed Operational Management Plan. This will include restrictions on the height and location of sets and other temporary structures, and strict protocols for night filming and special effects. Additional internal screening and ‘camouflage’ will be used whenever necessary and we‘ll still be rigorously following our existing neighbour notification scheme, which advises residents and local authorities of forthcoming filming activities.

Over the last ten years, WBSL has put down incredibly strong roots in our area. 60% of our people live locally to the Studios, and we’ve always recognised that our success depends on our good relationship with the local community. We understand the social and environmental effect that we have on local residents. That’s why our priority in this next phase of growth at the Studios is to continue to be a good neighbour, from increasing our sustainability efforts, to improving biodiversity in our local green spaces and listening to everyone’s concerns about noise or traffic.

We’re proud to be part of our community and we continue to build partnerships with a wide range of organisations that support local initiatives and improve people’s lives. These include:

• The Chamber of Conscience
• The WonderWorks
• Careers & Enterprise Company
• The Collett School and St Luke’s SEN in Redbourn
• DEMAND
• Electric Umbrella Theatre Company
• Peace Hospice Care
• Small Acts of Kindness
• Watford Homestart
• Watford Mencap
• Watford Palace Theatre
• Watford Workshop

Yes. We’re committed to being good neighbours and making a positive social and environmental impact in our area. We’re shaping a new generation of talent through our education and skills development initiatives. As well as continuing to create opportunities for local people wanting to work in the film and TV industry, we’re also dedicated to supporting the many local businesses who work with us.

We’re a local business with a global reputation, and we aim to be an inspiring leader in the creative industries. Based on expansion plans, by 2025 our major contribution to the local economy is forecast to increase to almost 6,000 Full Time Equivalent jobs within the local area and in excess of £360m in Gross Value Added.

Warner Bros. offers a wide range of opportunities for young people looking to kick start their career in the creative industries. We support apprentices through job roles in production lighting, studio operations and studio facilities. Working for Warner Bros. enables apprentices to gain experience and deepen their knowledge of the creative industry while working. Apprenticeships with Warner Bros. combine ‘on the job’ learning and training with college work which lead to nationally recognised qualifications.

Over the past decade, Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden has helped drive significant economic growth within Hertfordshire. We’re proud to build fruitful relationships with the many local suppliers and businesses who work with us across all corners of the Studios. On The Studios Today page of this website you can hear directly from some of the local businesses with whom we work.

We’re proud that 60% of our people live locally to the Studio, and we’re committed to helping shape a new generation of homegrown talent and introducing them to careers within the creative industries. Through a range of training, apprenticeship and employment opportunities, we’ll continue to promote and enable access to careers at WBSL.

Yes, we have significant plans to improve local green spaces. Following a public engagement exercise at the end of last year, we’ve committed to planting a 12-acre area of the Lower Field with trees, shrubs and grasses to improve its ecological value and provide a rich habitat for wildlife. We’ll also be creating a wetland area for wading birds and reptiles.

At Dowding Way, additional tree planting, path resurfacing and the creation of wildflower lawns has improved this area of Public Open Space for local residents, enhancing both the appearance and ecological value of the area.

While it would be impossible to completely screen our development from view, we’re committed to making meaningful improvements to the environment and the Studio boundaries to minimise any impact. These improvements will take the form of planted bunds and tree belts, which will not only provide screening but also add to the ecological value of our site.

A new southern roundabout will serve both the parking deck on the Island site and the main Studios site, and has been designed to accommodate the additional traffic that will be generated by the new development.

We’re busy planning a whole range of measures to reduce our environmental impact, from cutting carbon emissions to increasing our sustainable electrical energy solutions. We’ll also be implementing green ‘ultra-low emission’ transport measures for visitors, to help ensure any pollution is minimised.

Additional parking will ensure that we have space to accommodate the extra people working at the Studios. The extra capacity will also enable us to accommodate ‘crowd scene’ days when more people are typically on site; this will ensure that they don’t need to park on local streets and inconvenience our neighbours. Our planned access improvements will ensure that the local road network will be able to cope with the increase in vehicle numbers.

The site is positioned at the heart of the local road network and will benefit from a new access roundabout that will be well away from residential properties, so it’s ideally located to accommodate a multi-storey parking deck capable of serving the main Studios site.

The building broadly follows the parameters set by planning permission granted in 2015 for an office on the site. The structure has been thoughtfully designed to look more like a building, rather than having the typical functional form of an open parking structure. By combining a greater proportion of ‘solid to open’ walls and by carefully locating horizontal banding, the design of the building combines architectural interest with the opportunity to screen parked vehicles from view. This will significantly help to minimise headlight glare and noise.

The areas of improved habitat we’re creating on the Lower Field will help improve local ecology and encourage a greater diversity of flora and fauna.

Yes, we’ll be improving access and providing signage. We‘ll also monitor the use of the Lower Fields to ensure that the proposed enhancements are enjoyed widely by the local community.

We’re busy planning a whole range of measures to reduce our environmental impact, from cutting carbon emissions to increasing our sustainable electrical energy solutions. We’ll also be implementing green ‘ultra-low emission’ transport measures for visitors, to help ensure any pollution is minimised.

Our new Masterplan for Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden is an unmissable opportunity to set new standards for our practices and operations, to help reduce the impacts of climate change. We’ll ensure a minimum 20% reduction in regulated carbon emissions, through enhanced building fabric, more efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, and the inclusion of photovoltaics.

The development of ‘all electric’ offices and the provision of electric transport across our whole site will be a major step change away from traditional practices. As we grow, we’ll always keep the environment and local community wellbeing in mind. We’ll continue to enhance the green spaces in and around the Studios, not only to improve ecology and biodiversity, but also to create places that the whole community can access and enjoy.

An outline of our proposals can be found on the boards in the ‘Our Vision’ section of this website. We welcome your comments and thoughts.

Once we’ve submitted our planning applications to Three Rivers District and Watford Borough Council, you’ll be able to make formal comments on their websites. We‘ll update our website to let you know when the applications are submitted, and both Councils are also required to advertise the details of every application they receive.