Salford expands film hub with new sets for students

After installing four sets in the decanted building in Summer 2023, the Film Production team have constructed a further four sets in recent months, two of which are open, large spaces that consist of the complete downstairs of a South Manchester home and a traditional café.

The other spaces consist of a 60s-style office and a small laboratory setup. They add to the formerly constructed pub set and street scene, complete with its own car and phone box, as well as another living room and a separate bedroom set.

In addition to the high quality industry-standard sets, the team have also set up new teaching spaces next to the sets, four production meeting rooms, a large production office that can fit over a hundred students, a new 100-seater screening room with a 4K projector and two new rehearsal rooms.

The redevelopment of the space is a resounding success story for the programme as it turns what was once a mostly-empty building into a thriving hub of filmmaking.

Debra Prinselaar, Director of Creative Technology, Film and Broadcast Media at The University of Salford said: “To the untrained eye, Newton’s former Aeronautic and Civil Engineering Halls, are just drafty, cold, echoey, empty spaces.

“But once we packed them with film sets and props, they became hives of industry, reflecting studio-set culture in the world of filmmaking.

“Any day, any time, our students are filling these spaces, building their experience and expertise. Not only do these facilities help our students prepare for the world of work, they have also undoubtedly helped the programme increase the number of applicants, and strengthened our firm belief that we run of the best Film Production programmes in the country.”

As with the previous sets, the props were again donated from a range of local partners and armed with feedback on the initial sets, the Film Production team were able to pull together a unique story for each of the four sets.

Thomas Kirby, Programme Lead for BA Film Production, said: “Our students were so positive about the initial sets and within days, they were soon being used to their fullest extent. It became quite clear that we had a real need to offer more filming space and we were delighted to obtain earlier this year.

“We had the family home set in storage for some time so when the opportunity for expansion opened up, it was the perfect space for us to build it.

“With these new sets, we’ve nearly doubled the available set space that we can offer to students now and one of the big differences we have with this area is that we have the classroom right next to the sets, so you can be teaching one minute and then be able to put this in practice immediately next door on the sets.”

Further to this, in a bid to help the building become a ‘film hub’, the team also moved hundreds of pieces of kit from the University’s MediaCity campus to set up their own kit store in the building, minimising the logistical problem students faced of constantly transporting kit between campuses and in doing so, has freed up more space at the MediaCity campus for teaching.