As a fan of many Netflix shows and subscriber myself, I was especially pleased to visit Netflix’s recently developed site at Runnymede and Weybridge’s own Longcross Studios.
I was delighted to see the fruits of the enormous investment that Netflix has made at Longcross over recent years, including new state-of-the-art stages that can facilitate many different types of production needs, such as enormous water tanks, which will set the scene for some of their most exciting forthcoming productions.
Filming for a number of the company’s most popular titles takes place at Longcross and I was privileged to tour a set which is under construction for one of their best-known series. The vast props and wardrobe area was an Aladdin’s cave – although though I wasn’t able to try on any of the weird and wonderful accessories on display!
I was also pleased to hear that Netflix is committed to continuing to produce their shows at Longcross having entered into a long-term lease of the site. This investment will not only fuel our creative sector but will continue to bring jobs to the local area through direct employment and contracting opportunities, as well as to businesses in Netflix’s local supply chains, from which they purchase a wide range of goods and services.
We also had the opportunity to talk about some of the challenges that Netflix and the wider film and television industry is facing. Chief among them is the need to grow the workforce of the future for the sector, in specialist areas such as production supervision and sound engineering, amongst others.
As many of you know, strengthening employment and training opportunities is a key part of my local plan, which can be found here: www.drbenspencer.org.uk/campaigns/schools-and-skills. Netflix already offers a range of educational courses involving classroom teaching and set-based training to develop the skills essential to their work and we discussed the need for greater outreach into schools and colleges so that our young people are aware of the many opportunities available to them within the industry.
I will continue to work with Netflix and businesses within the constituency to forge channels of effective communication with our education settings and boost opportunities for employment.
