In 2015, having been at TPi for three months, I found myself on the top of the Studio 001 staircase with Production Park founder, Lee Brooks, as he discussed his vision for this Northern campus. “We have a long-term master plan to bring a lot more space to the site,” stated Brooks. “We want people and companies to come here for the right reason – seeing not just short-term revenue but rather buying into the collaborative future of Production Park.” Walking around the site nearly a decade later, you could argue that the Park’s team has certainly achieved this goal.
With representation on the site including TAIT, 4Wall Entertainment and ROE Visual, to name but a few, Production Park’s studio offering has expanded dramatically, most notably, with the formation of Studio 005 – which is equipped to host anything from a complex arena tour to the next Netflix series. There has also been significant expansion at the Academy of Live Technology (formerly, Backstage Academy). Not only is the Academy looking to become a fully independent accredited institution, but it has also launched operations in the US at Rock Lititz as well as an education partnership programme in Saudi Arabia. If that wasn’t enough, Production Park’s newest venture, XPLOR, is proving a shining example of the innovation of the live events sector and the wider insight it can provide multiple industries.
With so many talking points, it was difficult to know where to start. Thankfully, several of the Production Park family were on hand as tour guides.
STUDIOS
Our first stop was Studio 005 – one of the newest additions to Production Park’s rehearsal studio portfolio. A similar size to Studio One, the space is 15,500 sq ft of floor space with an additional storage area, which the team affectionally refer to as the ‘cow shed’. Looking skyward, the roof has a fully walkable grid with a shackleless system capable of handling a total of 500 tonnes of uniform distribution load (UVL).
A graduate of the Academy of Live Technology, Studio General Manager, Scott Matthews represents Production Park’s penchant for creating industry professionals able to become integral parts of the live events sector. “It’s safe to say that shows have become bigger; with the increasing number of stadium productions, it has been a struggle fitting everyone into Studio 001, so having this extra space with Studio 005 has been so helpful,” Matthews commented, referencing several incoming film and TV shoots in Studio 005 while live touring camps enjoyed Studio 001. “We have also included features to make the lives of incoming productions much easier such as lines engraved in the floor matching the hanging points in the roof to save time in marking out.”
Elsewhere, Studio 002, 003 and 006 are smaller spaces, ideal for band rehearsals or the Academy’s practical sessions with Studio 004 home to the Virtual Production Studio – more on that later. Production Park also owns The Mill for smaller-scale production rehearsals. Located in Wimbledon, London, The Mill offers a versatile space with complete privacy and a homely feel. Since its inception in 2017, the studio has hosted band and production rehearsals, music concerts, theatre production rehearsals, corporate events and film and television shoots.
The company’s on-site restaurant in Wakefield – CentR Stage – is nestled between Studios 001 and 005 and stocked for incoming productions, staff and students. “Incoming productions can bring in their own catering if they’d prefer but in the two years since we’ve offered the on-site service, most clients take us up on the offer,” Matthews said, highlighting the savings made to productions with this additional service.
EDUCATION
While discussing the day-to-day running of the Studios, Matthews revealed that when it comes to crewing incoming productions or any extra help needed in the space, he makes use of the Campus Crew scheme, which gives students from the Academy of Live Technology the chance to gain to real world experience outside of their studies, while also being paid a fair living wage. To learn more about the scheme, TPi spoke with Rachel Nicholson, Head of Institution for the Academy of Live Technology, and Emma Cook, Director of Student Support & Experience.
“Amid their first few days at the Academy of Live Technology, students have the chance to sign up to Campus Crew,” explained Cook. “Over the years this scheme has broadened to encompass all staffing needs on site. Jobs can vary – from helping in the studio and working on an event, through to taking shifts in the CentR Stage. Students who sign up go through an interview process to place them in roles that will are a good fit for their future career prospects.”
Nicholson emphasised the importance of providing students a fair living wage: “Every student should get the same opportunities regardless of their financial background,” she remarked, further reflecting on the growth of the campus. “In the six years I’ve been here, there has been an awful lot of changes. We are now a higher educational provider and are in the process of having our own educational awarding powers.”
Currently, the Academy can award degrees via the University of Bolton, but full independence would make it the first specialised live events institution, globally. “Getting our own powers is a complicated process, but our current goal is by summer 2025, being able to enrol students on independently run courses.” With more independence, this would enable Nicholson and the team to embody the institution’s ethos of “industry-embedded learning”.
In addition to the appearance of visiting crew members, countless students flooded in and out of the space during TPi’s visit to the facility. “The whole point is to not put education in a bubble away from the industry,” enthused Nicholson.
Away from Production Park, Nicholson has advocated for the industry at a governmental level, siting on The Creative Industries Council’s Skills and Education Working Group. With the Creative Industries Council charged with making recommendations to the government about higher education, Nicholson explained that having a seat at the table enables her to talk about the very specific differences within the events sector. “Compared to sectors such as construction or automotive, projects in live events don’t tend to last between 12 weeks to a year, so we’re trying to push for a more flexible options to recognise apprenticeships in our sector by Skills England. The issue is that by the nature of the sector, not a lot of people know we exist, so we must advocate for ourselves.”
The Academy of Live Technology has also seen significant growth outside of the UK boarders. Most notably with the opening of a facility at Rock Lititz in Pennsylvania. “Our ambition is to build a global network of campuses. After all, we are an international industry,” stated Nicholson.
In August 2024, the Academy officially opened its new facility at Rock Lititz, in partnership with Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. “There is no better place in the USA for the Academy of Live Technology to call home,” said Nicholson. “Rock Lititz offers a rich community of innovators, experts, industry leaders, rebels and creators, working on real, high-profile projects. The environment on campus is a perfect place for students to prepare for a career in the industry.”
The Academy has also been working in conjunction with organisers of MDLBEAST in Saudi Arabia, specifically with the BEAST ED programme – an initiative aiming to develop the next generation of Saudi events professionals. The curriculum begins with a two-week core foundations course taught by the Academy of Live Technology (ALT), which covers the basics of events production. From there, students enter a more focussed segment of study depending on their area of interest and skillset, with specialised courses on everything from site management, security, and health and safety to stage production, audio, IT connectivity, and event logistics, delivered by a selection of MDLBEAST’s partners.
“It’s been incredible to see how everyone in the ecosystem has pulled together to bring this emerging industry forward,” commented the Academy’s KSA General Manager, Matt Glynn. “We’re a specialist higher education institution from the UK, expanding into Saudi, so to get this level of traction we’ve needed and appreciated the full participation of the partners. With massive projects such as Soundstorm demanding bigger workforces, we look forward to being part of the solution to deliver the local workforce vision.”
XPLOR
Our last stop on the tour was with Phil Adlam, Head of XPLOR, which is arguably the most elusive department on site – and for good reason. XPLOR represents the research arm of Production Park’s business. During the opening pleasantries with Adlam and asking what he’s been up to, he answered simply: “I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”
Smoke and mirrors aside, TPi was keen to hear the reason for this new branch of the business. “It was in 2010 when developing Production Park, we knew education was going to be a pivotal part of everything we were trying to build.”
This now takes the form of the Academy of Live Technology. However, in 2020 when the Production Park team had a similar conversation about the future, there was one key aspect the group knew would be key to its continued success: research.
“During the conversations, we spoke of how much innovation happened within the live events industry and yet because of the gig economy where people work from show to show, you end up on the project hamster wheel,” Adlam commented. “People solve issues for a project or tour then move onto the next then, in effect, the solution is lost. The goal of XPLOR is to provide a space outside of the hamster wheel where there is an opportunity to think of a solution that could aid the wider industry and perhaps further afield.”
A big part of this branch of the business was the XPLOR Research Community (XRC) whereby companies can buy into this neutral space in order to work on a certain project that they would ordinarily not be able to afford, however with the aid of XPLOR could perhaps start to create a solution that could be shared into the community.
The establishment of XPLOR also opens more opportunities to apply for research funding that as of this time has never really been leveraged by the events community. “There are cases where one singular automative brand will be awarded a grant that far exceeds anything the entire live events community will be awarded,” stated Adlam, emphasising the need to harness the innovations happening within live events.
“There is a concern that the events community really needs to take control of our IP to avoid a situation where vital tools could be created by a third party and then we are forced to pay for a subscription service. However, investing in research mean we as a community could have better control of shared IP.”
He went on to give an example of the types of solution that the live events sector could offer the wider world. “TAIT, for example, can track every piece of metal they use in their staging via their internal systems. This is something that would be highly valuable to other companies working in manufacturing. Much of what we do is under the radar and secret,” he continued.
“People don’t know we are here. But what people need to understand is that we are not here to own IP – we’re here to create a one-off environment where you can do something amazing in the live events industry and that’s the reason why it’s so crucial that XPLOR is based here in Production Park, surrounded by people in the live events community.”
Before leaving, TPi headed into Studio Four to see the Virtual Production Studio. Having written about several XR stages between 2020 and 2021, it was interesting to see a studio in the flesh and discover more. While the Virtual Studio had recently been used for a commercial shoot, where the team created a fake kitchen. Off the back of some of the research under the XPLOR moniker, TPi got to witness some of the latest innovations within 3D world creations and the wider implications for industries such as TV and film.
It was yet another example of the confluence of the general ‘entertainment industry’. Production Park has always had the slogan ‘Where Live Industry Lives’ but the ever expanding definition of ‘live’ is certainly clear on the Wakefield site, and no doubt will continue to be an ever-growing centre point for this industry. We look forward to the next 10 years.
Words: Stew Hume
Photos: Production Park
www.academyoflivetechnology.co.uk
