New studio to open in Soho

James Fisher and Nick Lean of 7DM

A new studio is being set up in Soho, London by filmmakers Nicholas David Lean and James Fisher. 7DM Studios is facilitated by Pinewood, Shepperton, Elstree, Twickenham, and 3Mills, and will aim to connect low budget productions with the support and resources they need to reach completion.

"There are a growing number of creative individuals resident in the UK, across all disciplines, many in the Southeast, who do no more than exist on the peripheries of the business, but who are, to a person, desperately working angles to get inside the industry proper," said Lean. "Many remain unrepresented and unfulfilled as a result of the continued inability of what few structural organisations there are to offer sufficient guidance to the talent – these people often end up leaving the business before they’ve even got started... 7DM Studios intends to make a stand – to offer collaborative based opportunities to those unrepresented filmmakers by pushing back the boundaries of mediocrity in the lower echelons of the business through forward-thinking, transparent, and progressive creativity, that builds a broader collaborative base of companies willing to put quality and opportunity ahead of, in instances in which they can, profits and wealth."

Although the project has no connection to the Save Soho campaign which has recently received the support of stars like Benedict Cumberbatch, Lean says he supports the preservation of the area "as a rich and culturally significant area to the continued development and survival of the UK Film Industry and associated / complimentary arts and music in the capital."

With the five big studios providing shooting space, 7DM will concentrate on using its expertise to streamline the process of production management. As well as working on its own productions, starting with Drew Cullingham's comedy horror Shed Of The Dead, it aims to provide an affordable service to small productions that currently struggle to get the help they need. They also expect to work on music videos and adverts.