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John Stephenson OBE is our latest interviewee

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Yesterday, the project team recorded our latest interview for The Elstree Project with Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Stephenson, whose career began at Elstree Studios on three truly extraordinary films: The Dark Crystal, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, and Return to Oz.

John reflected on the groundbreaking puppetry and character work that defined The Dark Crystal, and the brilliance of Jim Henson — not only as a creative force, but as a leader who empowered and celebrated those around him.

We explored his work with Rick Baker on Greystoke, particularly the pioneering ape costumes and animatronics, and the vast jungle set that filled Stage 6 at Elstree. He also shared stories from Return to Oz, including the engineering behind the Gump, Tik-Tok, the Wheelers, and the Cowardly Lion costume.

John spoke with great fondness about the camaraderie among the crew — people like Tim Rose and Lyle Conway — who moved from one film to the next, forming a unique...

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Bradley Walsh contributes to the Project!

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Bradley Walsh

We've really been busy and within a week we are pleased to announce the latest interview for The Elstree Project – number 78, featuring none other than Bradley Walsh, the much-loved host of The Chase.

During our conversation, Bradley spoke about his time at Elstree Studios, where he's worked for 10 years – a full tenth of the studio’s incredible history. He reflected on how special it is to have been a part of that legacy and expressed how proud he is of the work he’s done there.

What really stood out to me, though, was how kind and generous he was with my student crew – a group of PG Film Production students from the University of Hertfordshire. Bradley took the time to shake every single one of their hands, asking about their career ambitions and offering some genuine, thoughtful advice. It was such a great moment for them...

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Trevor Horn talks about his song “Elstree”

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The Elstree Project recorded it's 76th interview, and on this occasion our guest at Elstree Studios, was the prolific record producer, musician and songwriter Trevor Horn CBE — formerly of The Buggles.

Most famously known for their song Video Killed the Radio Star, which also had this distinction of being the first played video on MTV when it launched, another song from the same album (The Age of Plastic) is called "Elstree" and is a song told from the perspective of an actor who used to work at Elstree in B-movies but now is a caretaker at the BBC. It's a really fantastic pop track, with a great catchy chorus "Elstree, Remember Me", and it was our pleasure to welcome Trevor into the studio for the very first time, to talk about the song's creation.

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The Project Goes Back to LA

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Just over 11 years after our last visit in 2013, The Elstree Project returned to Los Angeles this week!

Howard, project leader and co-founder, was nominated for an Eddie Award for Best Documentary Feature Editing by the American Cinema Editors (ACE), at their 75th annual Eddie Awards. This was for the film Her Name Was Moviola, which Howard co-created with our TEP interviewee and film editing legend Walter Murch! The ceremony was held at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Friday 14th March, having been delayed from January due to the LA wildfires which caused so much devastation.

During the trip, Howard was able to make some new connections and visit some historic film sites, including Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Paramount Studios, 20th Century Fox Studios, Universal Studios and the Motion Picture Editors Guild. During a personal guided tour of the...

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The Elstree Project returns with our first new interview since 2018!

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Having been on a filming hiatus for the past few years — while we made our very successful feature documentary HER NAME WAS MOVIOLA, we are delighted to be back filming new oral histories once again... and who better to kick off with than the brilliant, legendary Muppetteer and performer of Gonzo the Great - DAVE GOELZ!

We filmed our interview with Dave at Elstree Studios, with a dedicated crew from our Post Graduate Film Production students at the University of Hertfordshire, and heard many great memories from Dave's time working at both ATV Elstree Centre and EMI Elstree Studios for productions including The Muppet Show, The Great Muppet Caper, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

Dave's interview kicks off a new busy period of filming for the project, and we hope to share further filming updates with you all very soon.

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