A £1bn masterplan to bring 'Hollywood' to Camden as well as building 300 homes and offering training for the industry has been handed in.
Developer Yoo Capital is creating a Camden Film Quarter in Kentish Town, with state-of-the-art film and television studios, homes, cafes and a free school campus for teenagers.
Yoo Capital started buying land for the proposed site in Regis Road in 2023 and has been consulting with Camden Council and residents as it progresses.
It submitted a masterplan to the council outlining the guiding principles for the Camden Film Quarter on September 10, with detailed designs set to follow.
The scheme is intended to turn a “cut-off” site in Regis Road to the west of Kentish Town into a “beacon of creativity”.
"The vision that we collected with the industry and Camden community is to bring forward an industrial estate, and to reknit it back into the community of Camden," said Yoo Capital's managing partner Lloyd Lee.
"The entire area will benefit from the footfall so we want to make sure people want to participate with us."
An additional 3.8 acres has been purchased since Yoo Capital’s announcement about the project last April.
Mr Lee said there will be possibly "eight to 12" sound stages of various sizes, but details of the plan have not yet been decided.
He added: "How big are they? What are you trying to produce for us? Is it film is it television, is it television commercial, is it going to be arch format, or small or medium sized?
"We think a healthy mix is the best."
The area will include around 300 homes, 50% of which will be affordable, hospitality industries and other space for jobs in the entertainment industry.
There is also a partnership with the National Film and TV School to offer free tuition to students aged 16 to 20.
"It's not just about the film," Mr Lee added. "Think about the set design, the sound the animation, the special effects, the digital, the production, the marketing, the writing, all of those trades are related to film but not necessarily film so as a result you can also open, over time, an evolution of who's coming into the creative quarter and that's exciting too.
"We are here to create jobs, responsibly, we're here to create infrastructure for our own people. Watch how we do it.
"You've got to be bold, you've got to be responsible being bold. This is an opportunity for London, for Camden, for Kentish Town."
Mark Smith, studio operator with Oxygen Studios, which has worked with production houses including Marvel and Warner brothers, is partnering with Yoo Capital.
"We're creating a new home for film and TV here in Central London and there is nothing that compares to this in the UK in terms of the facilities they are hoping to bring," he said.
"There are a number of plans we hope to have finalised by the end of the year.
"I like to be thinking we'll be creating our own UK version of Hollywood. With the quality of studios we are producing here it will entice best-in-class production houses to work here."
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