Movies at Your Frontdoor
Ok, so you are visiting the magical worlds of Disney theme parks, you stay “in the magic” by lodging in Disney hotels in the Disney resorts, you sail the seas on a Disney cruise ship, you have bought into the Disney version of vacation time shares (the Disney Vacation Club) - and now you think you have gone to the maximum regarding spending time in themed environments? Well, think again - what about LIVING in a themed environment??
No, I am not talking about a “do it yourself” project to theme your own flat. Neither am I talking about Celebration, the village developed by Disney near Orlando. I am talking about actually living on a film set (and not in a “Big Brother”- way)!
It is not a Disney project, but it takes the idea of spending time in a themed environment to the next stage. And for once it is not planned by any of the big players in the world of themed vactioning or entertainment. As the well known TIME magazine reports on its website the project is developed by the Pinewood Studios in the UK, famous as location for the various James Bond movies. The “Pinewood Project” is to consist of a 105 acre expansion of the current movie lot and will feature streets designed by various themes- There is supposed to be Roman coliseum, a medieval, moated castle and several urban streetscapes that range from New York’s Lower East Side, to Venice’s canals, to suburban L.A., to a quaint European village. And among all of these 2,000 to 2,500 residences, ranging from apartments to complete houses. The plans also call for shops, restaurants, gyms, possibly even a school (in the castle and several other buildings) as well as a performing arts venue (the latter in the coliseum) and a training center (in a mock U.S. college campus). The result is supposed to be a complete community - just in a very special setting.
Interested? While the studio expects that many residents will be working in the movie business everyone is supposed to be able to buy in. Alas it won’t be too cheap. To cite the TIME magazine again: “Media reports set the project’s cost at around $400 million, a figure Pinewood doesn’t dispute but won’t confirm“. Also it should be considered that the area around London, where the studios are located, has a housing shortage…
But this all assumes the project will be realized - which right now is not sure, as the studios are located within the greenbelt, a rural zone enclosing London in which development is usually prohibited. But the housing shortage and the floated number of up to 1,000 all new, permanent jobs created by the project might grant it a chance. Pinewood hopes to celebrate groundbreaking (if the necessary permissions are granted) within 18 to 24 months, which would lead into a construction period of three to five years.
If you ask me … it sure sounds interesting and I am convinced guests would love to visit you if you are living in the finished project … but, me? I am not sure I would want to live there. Afterall the community would also be used for filming. The TIME magazine writes: “For example, the first and last buildings of the block of New York row houses would be left empty for interior shoots. But the middle ones would house real homes and apartments.” If you have every witnessed the mayhem and craziness of an on-location shoot you know you are in for a lot of “fun” … not to mention closed of walkways, streets, and maybe some nights with bright lights, fake rain and lots of shouting. Which might be fun the first two times around, but then… And think about the construction work. Afterall they can’t film every movie in the exact same set, so they would have to re-theme certain areas now and then. Guess I’ll just keep the time “staying in the magic” limited to the vacations - which is not too bad either as it makes “staying in the magic” even more magical and special. On the other hand if we would be talking about living in Celebration, Florida, that would be something different 