Surbiton Studios were a British

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

located in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

, then on the outskirts of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The studio was one of several opened during the boom in British production following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was opened in and its first film was released in January 1919. Its owners were

Stoll Pictures Stoll Pictures was a British film production and distribution company of the silent era, founded in April 1918. Background During the early to mid-1920s it was the largest film company in Britain and one of the biggest in Europe. Its major domes ...

which became one of the largest British film company of the early 1920s. Because Surbiton's single-stage studio was considered too small for the company's ambitions, Stoll moved most of its production over to the much-larger

Cricklewood Studios Cricklewood Studios, also known as the Stoll Film Studios, were British film studios located in Cricklewood, London which operated from 1920 to 1938. Run by Sir Oswald Stoll as the principal base for his newly formed Stoll Pictures, which also ...

and rented Surbiton out to

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

producers. Stoll films continued to be made there occasionally until 1923 when the studio was sold to

British Instructional Films British Instructional Films was a British film production company which operated between 1919 and 1932. The company's name is often abbreviated to BIF. The company released a number of feature films during the late silent and early sound eras, d ...

(BIF). The following year Stoll took over BIF, and Surbiton came back under its control.Low p.132 BIF eventually moved its production to the more modern

Welwyn Studios Welwyn Studios was a British film studio located at Broadwater Road, Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire. The facility operated between 1928 and 1950. The studios were first constructed by British Instructional Films, and converted to make s ...

, and Surbiton closed.

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''History of the British Film, 1918–1929''. George Allen & Unwin, 1971. * Warren, Patricia. ''British Film Studios: An Illustrated History''. Batsford, 2001. British film studios Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Surbiton {{coord missing, London

See also

References

Bibliography