It could be a movie scene. The rain is falling as director and producer Barnaby Thompson arrives at Ealing Studios on a bright blue Vespa. He steps off the scooter and unzips his full biker gear to reveal a dapper suit, a transformation akin to Superman turning into Clark Kent – or in this case, the chap behind the camera.
Thompson, 63, has been at the heart of British cinema for nearly three decades. Among other things, he is the creative force behind films such as Spiceworld, the remake of St Trinian’s and 2002 version of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest.
For the past 23 years, he has been a co-owner of Ealing, the world’s oldest continuously running film studios. In the early days of film, at the beginning of the 20th century, the complex was known as the White House. The cameras have not stopped rolling since 1902.
Thompson says his position carries a ‘real sense of responsibility’ for the heritage, and future, of British cinema. As we walk to his office, he tells me the room next door was used by one of his most famous predecessors, Michael Balcon, who ran the studios from 1938 to 1955, the years of the famous Ealing comedies, such as The Lavender Hill Mob.
‘I think Ealing Studios mean a lot to a lot of people. If you talk to Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg about film, they will definitely reference Ealing,’ he says.
Ealing power: Barnaby Thompson runs Ealing Studios, maker of classics such as The Lavender Hill Mob and St Trinian’s series
He is a powerful advocate for Britain’s TV and film industry, which has boomed over the past few years and made the UK one of the top hubs outside Hollywood.
He would like to see the new Government take action to secure and increase the jobs and revenues produced by filmmaking.
His plea comes as other prominent figures, including leading TV producer Sir Peter Bazalgette, argue the creative industries should be regarded as a key source of economic growth. Generous tax incentives, including business rates relief and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), have meant big US companies are spending millions here they might have spent elsewhere.
‘London is a very attractive place,’ he says, adding that top actors and technicians from around the world ‘love this city’. The incentive schemes are helping to give the UK the edge over cheaper European destinations such as Serbia. Belgrade has long been a hotspot for film thanks to low production costs and generous tax rebates to shoot there.
‘If you’re going to choose between London and Belgrade, where do you want to spend your time?’ he asks, rhetorically.
But Thompson argues there is an existential threat to what he sees as ‘truly British film’. By this, he means productions by UK companies telling a quintessentially British story, such as ITV’s recent hit Mr Bates vs The Post Office. It tells a very British story to an audience that understands the nuance and politics of the drama.
And while investment by US players is ‘fantastic for the economy and jobs’, there are pitfalls.
‘There is a balance to be found,’ he says. US movie-makers pay big money, which is positive, but it makes it harder to make British movies on a smaller budget.
‘Indie’ film makers who, as the name suggests, operate without the backing of the big studios, still flock to Ealing because of its wonderful history – if they can get their projects off the ground.
There is a question mark over future ventures. Thompson says: ‘The Full Monty – would it get financed now? I don’t know. That’s the worry. Those very English films can be enormously successful, but going in they may not seem to have that universal appeal.’
Since the pandemic, investors are increasingly risk-averse and reluctant to pump cash into indie films. Under EIS, 30 per cent income tax relief is available. This should make a punt more appealing. But recent changes have made it harder to rely on this system.
A total of £1.36 billion was spent on 207 film productions in Britain in 2023, but only 11 per cent were made by solely UK firms, according to British Film Institute data. As a result, there have been suggestions that Hollywood titans should commit to making more local content that speaks to domestic stories or employs local directors.
In 2021, France imposed levies and investment obligations on streaming services. These compel media companies to invest at least 20 per cent of their net French revenue into European work, of which 85 per cent must be in projects of ‘French expression’.
But what constitutes national culture is often intangible and subjective, so introducing a similar system here would be tricky.
What is certain is that Ealing has a special place in British hearts as well as in the national cinema industry, due to postwar hits that are popular to this day such as The Ladykillers, Passport to Pimlico and Kind Hearts and Coronets.
In 1938, Balcon bought the land where Ealing Studios sits. After establishing itself as a centre for warm, but subtly subversive comedy, the site was bought by the BBC in 1955, which used it to shoot favourites including Porridge, Monty Python and Doctor Who.
In 2001, the studios were taken over by a consortium, including independent production company Fragile Films – run by Thompson – and the Manhattan Loft Corporation, which is a property development group behind projects such as the Chiltern Firehouse and St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.
Since then, it has been the home of award-winning productions including Downton Abbey and Darkest Hour. It was most recently used for the Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black. US private equity firm Starwood Capital bought a majority stake in the studios in 2022 for £48.5 million.
That year the studios unveiled plans for a £20 million expansion. As we walk through the studios – which feel more building site than nerve centre of cinema – Thompson praises the LA-based owners as ‘fantastic partners’ saying they are ‘hands off in management’. The son of journalists, Thompson started off in documentary films, but got his big break in 1990 moving to New York, where he made the hit Wayne’s World.
When he moved back to London, he produced Spiceworld and he points to where Victoria Beckham was plunged into a water tank.
But last year’s Hollywood writer and actor strikes were even ‘more disruptive’ than Covid, after ‘an incredible’ ten years. The latest accounts reveal profit of £5.5 million in 2022, down from £5.6 million in 2021. Figures for 2023, the strike year, have yet to be released.
In more than a century of cinema, Ealing has survived wars, economic depressions and all manner of political upheaval. Thompson is determined that, whoever the owners are, the studios will return to their glory days.
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