What To Look For When Hiring A Studio In London
Every studio claims to be professional. Here's how to work out whether one actually is.
When a production team is shortlisting studios in London, they're not just comparing prices. They're assessing whether a space can genuinely support their shoot — the scale, the power, the access, the facilities — without adding complications to an already complex day. This guide covers the questions worth asking before you book, and explains what good answers actually look like. Where relevant, we've used Malcolm Ryan Studios as the working example, because the specs are specific and the answers are honest.
Ceiling Height: Why It Matters More Than Most Studios Admit
The difference between a 12ft ceiling and a 31ft ceiling isn’t just headroom — it’s a completely different set of creative possibilities
Low ceilings are the most common constraint that production teams run into after they’ve already booked. A 12ft ceiling limits how high you can rig lights, eliminates overhead shooting options and makes large set builds impossible. It also means any lighting from above is close enough to create hard shadows that take time to manage.
Studios with genuine ceiling height — 19ft and above — give lighting teams room to work properly. Softboxes can be rigged at height, overhead shooting becomes a real option and set builds have vertical space to breathe. At 31ft, Studio A at Malcolm Ryan Studios has an overhead shooting platform at ceiling height, giving photographers and DOPs a top-down perspective that simply isn’t possible in most London studios.
When reviewing a studio, ask for the ceiling height in feet and ask specifically whether there’s an overhead shooting platform or rigging grid. A lighting grid without shooting access is useful but limited. Both together — as in Studios A, 1 and 2 at Malcolm Ryan Studios — gives productions significantly more options on the day.
A 31ft ceiling with an overhead platform changes what’s possible. Ask for the number, not just ‘high ceilings’.
Drive-In Access: Essential for Vehicle Shoots, Useful for Almost Everything Else
Drive-in clearance tells you more about a studio's real capability than almost any other single spec
Drive-in access isn't only relevant to automotive productions. Any shoot with large props, heavy equipment, set-build materials or oversized products benefits from loading directly onto the studio floor at ground level. The alternative — carrying equipment through corridors, up lifts and across shared spaces — adds time, adds risk and adds stress to a shoot day.
When assessing drive-in access, the key measurement is clearance height. A clearance of 14ft accommodates standard-height vehicles and most commercial vans. 17ft clearance, which Studio A at Malcolm Ryan Studios provides, handles larger vehicles, trucks and high-sided production transport. Floor-level entry also means forklifts and pallet trucks can be used for heavy loads.
For vehicle photography specifically, drive-in access is non-negotiable. Studios A and 1 both provide drive-in clearance directly onto the infinity cove floor. A vehicle can be driven in, positioned and lit without any lifting, ramps or compromise. The 87ft width of Studio A's cove means a full-size vehicle sits comfortably within the shooting space with room either side for lighting rigs.
14ft clearance handles most vehicles. 17ft handles everything. Know the number before you book.
Power Supply: The Spec That Separates Production Studios from Hire Rooms
Inadequate power is a problem you only discover when it's too late to fix it
Professional lighting rigs draw significant power. A single large HMI, a bank of LED panels or a set of strobe heads running simultaneously can exceed what a standard domestic or light commercial supply can handle. Studios built genuinely for production have the power infrastructure to support it.
The key figures to ask for are total amperage and whether three-phase supply is accessible. Three-phase matters for larger productions running multiple heavy rigs — it distributes load more efficiently and supports equipment that requires it natively.
Studio A at Malcolm Ryan Studios carries 3 x 400A supply plus 3-phase 63A sockets. Studios 1 and 2 each provide 12–15 x 63A sockets plus 3-phase 63A access. These are production-grade specs that allow large crews to run full lighting setups without tripping breakers or sharing circuits.
If a studio can't tell you the amperage clearly, treat that as a warning sign.
If a studio can't tell you the amperage clearly, treat that as a warning sign.
Infinity Coves: What the Dimensions Actually Mean for Your Shoot
A cove is only as useful as its width, curve quality and floor condition — ask about all three
An infinity cove eliminates the visual join between floor and wall, creating the seamless background that product, fashion and automotive photography relies on. The quality of the cove matters as much as its existence — a narrow cove with a sharp radius limits how wide you can shoot and how far back talent or product can be positioned.
Width is the most important dimension. A cove at 20ft works for portrait and small product shoots. At 60ft it accommodates a group of people, a styled set or a mid-size vehicle. Studio A's 87ft U-shaped cove is large enough to position a full-size car within the sweep with lighting rigs either side and still have shooting room in front.
Floor condition also matters. A freshly painted floor reflects light cleanly and photographs without texture or wear marks. At Malcolm Ryan Studios, freshly painted floors are available as an add-on for Studios A, 1, 2 and 3 — giving productions a clean starting point regardless of what ran before them.
Studios A, 1 and 2 have U-shaped coves. Studio 3 has an L-shaped cove at 60ft x 60ft. Studio 4 has a compact cove suited to portrait and product work.
Width, radius and floor condition. Three things worth asking about before you assume a cove will work.
Production Facilities: The Difference Between a Hire Room and a Working Studio
A professional shoot needs more than a room — it needs make-up space, crew areas, parking and somewhere to eat
Production facilities are where the gap between studios that look good on a website and studios that actually work on a shoot day becomes obvious. A studio with no make-up room forces talent into corridors. A studio with no parking adds an hour of logistics to the start of every day. A studio with no catering option means crew breaks become disruptive.
At Malcolm Ryan Studios, production facilities are included as part of the site rather than extras. Make-up and wardrobe rooms are attached to the studios. Production offices are available for client meetings and shoot management. Free parking is available on site. The 80-seat restaurant is open for crew catering throughout the day.
Air conditioning runs across all studios — important for shoots running in summer or under heavy lighting loads. High-speed Wi-Fi is available site-wide, with a dedicated leased line option for productions requiring additional bandwidth for live streaming or high-volume upload.
Equipment hire — lighting, camera and grip support — is available through the studio, reducing the number of suppliers a production needs to coordinate.
These aren't luxury additions. On a full production day with a large crew and a client on set, they're the details that keep everything running smoothly.
The facilities that seem like extras are often the ones that make or break a shoot day.
Studio Hire in London at Malcolm Ryan Studios
Malcolm Ryan Studios offers five professional studio spaces in South West London, each with different capabilities matched to different types of production. Studio hire rates start from £600 per day for Studio 4 through to £2,000 per day for Studio A.
All studios are located at Wimbledon Stadium Business Centre, SW17 — easily accessible from Central London via the A3, Wimbledon rail, tube and tram connections.