Sands Films

The building that Sands Films occupies is a former granary, now a grade II listed building.[2] The business was founded in 1975[3] and since 1976, it has housed a small film stage, film theatre, picture library, workshops and costume stores.[4] The Goodwins initially used the derelict building rent-free, on the basis they completely repaired and renovated the property.[5] Managing director Olivier Stockman has worked for Sands Studios since 1980.[3]

In 2011, the company's annual turnover exceeded £1 million for the first time.[5] After its rent almost quadrupled since 2000 and it had been asked to pay back-rent for an unrenovated part of the building, the company began to raise funds to purchase the property. This included selling shares at £500 each,[5] and later in 2012, they successfully bought the property, with plans to modernise its production facilities. The studio and its struggle to survive increasing rent and costs was the subject of a BBC Inside Out program in 2012.[6] The BBC film also highlights the four generations who have worked at Sands since it was founded.[7]

As an independent film production studio Sands Films has its own soundproof stage, workshops, costume department, set construction workshop, cutting room, cinema and other services needed to make films. It is a self-sufficient and fully integrated production facility. Cinema and television companies as varied as Working Title, Talkback, BBC, Channel 4, Freemantle, Ridley Scott Associates, Sky TV, the Royal Opera House, the New York Metropolitan Opera and Canal+ have used the facilities at Sands Films for their projects.

The weekly film club is free, with donations invited, and is housed in a "cosy" cinema in the 18th century building which contains "a myriad of aesthetically pleasing spaces". These include music performances, book launches, political debates and theatre productions, as well as the non-digital Rotherhithe Picture Research Library which is an educational trust and is open to all at no cost. [8][9]

With the covid-19 lockdown the studio intensified its live streaming activities. Stockman explained:

“Sands Films always had a connection with live music and music performance in general. But during the Covid lockdown, the studio’s recording and broadcasting facilities were made available to musicians who were deprived of their live audience, and therefore of their income. We offered the Music Room as accessible and open to all: without a paywall, fees or anything. All we asked is for donations from those who can afford it."[7]

Since then all Sands Films’ music events have been hybrid, with a live audience in the theatre, online viewers at home and unrestricted access remaining the same. While performers are paid a minimum guarantee, Stockman says:

"Our open door policy reflects the fact that art and culture should not be treated as commodities. Music, in particular, is destined to all and should not be conditional upon a financial transaction.”[7]

Griff Rhys Jones has described Sands Films as "romantic and inspiring; efficient, fun and creative. I love working down there. I love the atmosphere. You feel lucky to be there and privileged to get stuck into the serious business of creating fantasy in such surroundings.” [10]

Productions by Sands Films include Stories from a Flying Trunk (1979), The Nightingale (1981), Biddy (1983), Little Dorrit (1987), The Fool (1989), As You Like It (1991), Amahl and the Night Visitors (1996), The IMAX Nutcracker (1997), The Children's Midsummer Night's Dream (2001) and The Good Soldier Schwejk (2018).

The studio has delivered full production packages to companies requiring a London studio base, such as A Passage to India (1984) to Bright Star (2009). Sands Films was the production base for The Long Day Closes (1992),for which all the sets were built. Sands Films supplied facilities to Working Title's productions of Anna Karenina (2012) and Les Miserables (2012), and was a co-production partner on A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia(1990).

Other productions the company has been involved in for production services or costumes include all the Agatha Christie films produced by EMI (including Death on the Nile),[11] Vanity Fair (2004), The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Fingersmith (2005), and Pride & Prejudice (2005).[12] It hand-embroidered the costumes for the main characters in the BBC's 2015 series Wolf Hall.[13]

In 2017, Sands Films produced The Good Soldier Schwejk, written and directed by Christine Edzard and based on The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek. The project partly was funded by the auction of a costume worn by Mark Rylance in the BBC's Wolf Hall.[14]

• Sands Films company website
• Londonist Discovers Rotherhithe Picture Research Library
• Knowledge of London Visits Sands Films and Rotherhithe Picture Research Library
• Sands Films at IMDb