THIS POST HAS BEEN HEAVILY EDITED IN RESPONSE TO A NEW CLIMATE OF TRUST AND CO-OPERATION BEHIND THE SCENES. 

The Board has said officially  there is no alternative to expansion on greenbelt land. Ronnie Lamb and Stop Project Pinewood say there is no absolutely chance. Plus now The Government sees it is a really big vote winner to oppose Pinewood’s Appeal.

The problem for Pinewood Shepperton PLC Board  is that they are doing very badly and the additional £2 million for the Appeal is money they may not have.

Meanwhile British Film Industry film workers (mostly freelance and not P.A.Y.E.  staff  who work in many countries)    love working in films and hate unemployment.  Many  love The Birmingham option for this expansion and the prospect of future expansions and film factory facilities around the UK. Some were even born in the North, Midlands, Scotland, Wales, South-West, Ireland, Channel Isles, Isle of Man, Shetland or even outside The UK.

They want sound finances and want to know how big is the west Midland and Black Country wallet.

The share price is the key.  Investors who bought at £2.90 do not love that the share price has hovered below £1.30 and makes the company worth much less than Birmingham City FC which owns only 10% as much land. The  share price in all this is crucial.

The fact is that the Board of Pinewood Shepperton PLC is no longer driving this car. The senior shareholders and other interested parties look on at assets and income. Many but not all of the “interested parties” who could buy do not see a creative hub but a highly profitable ring and ride car park serving West London.

Do a seminar on Company law, PLC, shareholders, directors, EGMs, AGMS, Board sackings, resignations, liquidation, takeover bids to get the full picture. The Board is not in charge now unless the share price, income and assets start stacking up.

We like this Board. They want to make movies or at least facilitate film makers.

We are trying to shore up their share price and get a bid from Birmingham, The West midlands, The Black Country by November 15. A bid which drives those car park wannabees away forever.

Alas  for momentum Birmingham Gisela Stuart MP has urgent work in Washington this week.  Gisela will gather together a roundtable at The NEC  in Birmingham, the West Midlands and Black Country to make an offer to Pinewood Shepperton PLC  Board to make this expansion a huge success and financial lifeline for the company and workers in the South East.

Our frustration is that this may take two weeks.  In the meantime conduits, informal negotiations are on offer and in action.

There are some very sensible shareholders in Pinewood. They are businessmen looking to make a profit. They thought there was money in this investment. The investors do not like to lose money.  They staff at Pinewood do not like the loss of goodwill among the locals in Iver Heath for the brand. They do not like losing reputation in the industry and being semi-ridiculed in Hollywood, Bollywood, France, Germany, Italy, Spain. The Bafta which they were awarded  earlier this year has now no power to rescue their  position or investment.

The shareholders and many members of the Board want to hear The West Midland deal.

Gisela Stuart MP, many other MPs, councillors, The NEC and Save The British Film Industry will ensure that they do.

We really apologise to all that the key word now is patience.

We understand Gisela Stuart MP is doing vital work in Washington. If she was here now, we would have much firmer news.

But negotations are taking place and meetings being arranged.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6410977/MG-Rover-factory-could-be-used-as-film-studios.html

MG Rover factory could be used as film studios

Hollywood film sets could soon be relocated to the disused factory of troubled car maker MG Rover.

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/10/23/call-for-action-on-plan-to-build-film-studio-at-longbridge-65233-24995752/

This latest refusal has prompted figureheads in the movie making business, pressure groups and Midland MPs to propose the former MG Rover works at Longbridge as a possible site for the £200 million development.

If approved, it would pave the way for the construction of carbon-copy versions of popular film locations like New York, San Francisco, Venice and Paris.

It would also see the world’s most famous actors staying on location in the Second City, would create thousands of jobs and bring millions into the region.

Gisela Stuart MP (Lab, Edgbaston) believes the Midlands could be the new Hollywood and says the massive plot at Longbridge would be ideal.

She said: “It’s the perfect site and infrastructure in terms of labour force, artistry and geography.

“They need 100 acres, we’ve got 400 and on a site in need of redevelopment. This is something Longbridge has been waiting for.”

Alan Grindley, chief executive of Birmingham TV station City TV Birmingham, said the Longbridge idea was already creating ‘a buzz in the industry’ and had already pricked the ears of influential American film maker 20th Century Fox.

He said: “It makes sense we create a new Pinewood at Longbridge. The skilled craftsmen of the region would be ideally suited to work at a Film Studio complex.

“Pinewood has over 40 sound stages and ten digital TV studios. Many hundreds of new jobs for our talented workforce would be created. A film studio the size of Pinewood would be a massive boost to the city.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/8320396.stm

Gisella Stuart, MP for Edgbaston, said she is lending her weight to a campaign to bring the project to Longbridge.

She told BBC News: “We have the land and we have the talent here in the West Midlands.”

The Labour MP and former health under-secretary said: “The more you think about it, the more you realise we have it all here – skills, land and infrastructure.

“Longbridge can provide everything.”

The Buckinghamshire plan was rejected because councillors felt the protected green belt would be invaded.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/MG-TF/244315/

However, the planned development would not affect MG Rover’s current car plant.

“The piece of land being looked at by the film studio is seaparate to the current car plant, and is now owned by developers,” said an MG spokesman. “There is certainly enough room there for them to develop their plans, and here for us to continue with our planned expansiom.

“Having the iconic brands of MG and Hollywood side by side would be quite exciting.”

The campaign for Longbridge to house Hollywood studios has been backed by Birmingham politicians. Birmingham Northfield MP Richard Burden, said: “The creative industries is an area in the regional economic strategy that we feel the West Midlands can excel at.

“There are not many places big enough to do this but Longbridge is available. Everyone has heard of it so people would know where the site was”.

…………………………..

 Did we mention we are called SAVE THE BRITISH FILM INDUSTRY because this company which owns the three big TV production facilities in the UK (apart from little Elstree) is in jeapordy without the help we are (nearly) getting for you. Give us until November 15 and a deal will be on offer.

Factually, The Board may win on appeal or they may not, but if they keep chasing the planning permission and Stop Project Pinewood will go to The EU courts….who knows then ?

Pinewood is glamourous but in a hole. The Board need to stop digging. We think they want to stop digging but are now waiting for The West Midlands to confirm its interest and formalise its bid. Gisela Stuart in The Uk would have done this already. In her absence, we are all trying our very best.

Employees need to be in a financially sound business. Investors want a strong share price. They want dividends and profit, share price appreciation and a good reputation locally, nationally and internationally. They want us all to soberly explore every business option. Frankly any which makes the film industry more accessible to people in The UK is what we do.

We want to make film-making so profitable for you, tied to theme park and all the houses you could ever dream of selling, that you never need to consider becoming a carpark, supermarket distribution centre, housing development on the lands you own in The South East.

We want to strengthen your employees and freelance  job security in the South-East and volume of work for the post-production side of things.

Jonathan Stuart-Brown

www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com