The coronavirus pandemic injected new urgency into the frenetic streaming battle under way in Hollywood: audiences were stuck at home and seeking television as an escape, but coronavirus restrictions prevented the filming of new material and created a production bottleneck.
With filming now back to pre-pandemic levels, Hollywood studios are scrambling to churn out shows. But a parallel race has emerged for locations to shoot, luring private equity groups into what has previously been a niche market.
Investors including Blackstone and TPG have committed more than $4bn in recent months to acquire sound stages — large, warehouse-type buildings where producers place sets — in entertainment centres across North America and Europe, according to real estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle.
“I’ve never seen this type of deal flow,” said Carl Muhlstein, managing director at JLL. “It coincides with the post-Covid backlog of content, the changing economics of studios and the globalisation of the industry.”
Driving the boom are the streaming wars as Disney, WarnerMedia, Netflix, Amazon and others invest tens of billions of dollars in becoming a leader in the future of entertainment.
In Los Angeles, demand for locations to shoot TV shows vastly outstrips supply: churches, abandoned malls, industrial warehouses and even a former Ikea store have been repurposed into production facilities.
The supply…
