In December 2026, Elstree Studios will mark the centenary of its official opening. As that milestone approaches, a new campaign has now begun to ask BAFTA to formally recognise the contribution of Elstree and Borehamwood to British cinema and television with a Special BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the 2027 ceremony.
The proposal, submitted to BAFTA earlier this year, calls for recognition not of a single studio, but of Elstree and Borehamwood as the UK’s unique studio town — a place where multiple film and television studios have operated continuously across more than a century, forming a long-running, interconnected production ecosystem unlike anywhere else in Britain.
A unique studio town
Film-making in Borehamwood and Elstree began in 1914, and over time the town has been home to eight major film and television studio sites, operating under different owners and across different eras, but collectively sustaining one...