This month we take a look at the newly built television studio within the Carbis Bay Hotel and Estate – the location chosen to host global leaders for the G7 Summit later this year.
It’s fair to say that the New Year has got off to an exciting start for Eric Woollard-White, Managing Director of Round World Studios. The company’s newly opened Carbis Bay Studio has found itself right at the heart of the media spotlight following the announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the G7 Summit will take place in Cornwall in June.
“It definitely feels like we’re in the middle of something special for Carbis Bay and for Cornwall, it would be great if it leaves a positive legacy behind for the regional community.” says Eric.
The studio, a joint venture between the hotel’s owners Stephen and Jose Baker and Round World Studios, officially opened for business in November, when it hosted its first production – a new cookery series for ITV. The 10-part series, Simply Raymond Blanc, will be on Saturday mornings from 30 January.
Plymouth-based Rock Oyster Media produced the series and its working partnership with Round World Studios is set to continue with two further productions pencilled in to shoot at the new studio, within the hotel’s recently completed beach-front development. “The studio’s default set up is as a working kitchen, and this is supported with a separate prep kitchen, but we can reset and redress depending upon the need required,” says Eric. The space would work for a variety of filming or photography uses, and the wider location offers plenty more options for producers and content creators.
Eric explains: “We are promoting the internal studio space first and foremost, but a big attraction is the beach and the bay which is private but open to the public - with advance planning and a one-stop approval process it can be locked off for filming.”
The studio itself has been created as a sound-proofed box with one chromakey wall and a fitted ceiling rig providing flexible options for lighting and fixed camera positions. A key feature is a superfast leased line internet connection, which has already been used for a successful live stream cook-a-long production by Spirit Studios hosted by Steven Lamb with top Port Isaac-based chef Nathan Outlaw for HSBC customers and employees. As well as the studio space, there is a small, separate production gallery and access to ancillary space for hair & makeup and a green room.
Eric's three decades of working in the media, from journalism and public relations to film, television and theatre production makes him ideally positioned to work with any production challenge: “We can help with access to competitively priced camera, lighting and sound kit, and will be working with Screen Cornwall's database of locally available crew as well as our own contacts. We would like to be an active player in the local media economy, which feels full of energy, and hope to do our bit for stimulating the local supply chain. We have already created one new full-time Studio Manager position and are looking at creating an apprenticeship position once we are fully up to speed.”
As someoMe who has led teams producing numerous television series with leading entrepreneurs such as Peter Jones and Simon Cowell, as well as working on documentary feature films including the recent Ronnie's about Ronnie Scott and his world-famous jazz club and an award-winning play Hope, at Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre, Eric's ambitions for the facility in Cornwall are as global as the G7. "It feels like a great time to be building a media business in Cornwall and we're looking forward to having a really positive impact on the screen sector in the region."
Carbis Bay Studio – Fast Facts
