An advertising campaign needs more than a large studio.
The right facility supports every workstream — not just the shoot.
Booking studio space for an advertising campaign is a different exercise to booking for a single shoot. The studio itself is only part of the picture. Productions at this scale typically run multiple workstreams simultaneously — stills, video, podcast, talent interviews, client review — and the facility needs to support all of them, not just the main space. This guide covers what to look for when assessing whether a studio complex is genuinely equipped for advertising campaign production.
Space: One Studio Is Rarely Enough
Campaigns spread across sets, teams and days. The site needs room for all of it.
A campaign rarely lives on a single set. Hero stills, motion, behind-the-scenes content and talent interviews often need separate spaces running at the same time, and a single large room forces them to queue. Ask whether the venue can offer more than one studio, and whether they can be hired together or exclusively.
Malcolm Ryan Studios has five studios across one site in South West London, with over 30,000 sq ft of studio and production space in total. A production can take one studio, several, or the whole site, so the footprint grows with the campaign rather than the other way round.
A campaign needs room to run in parallel, not just room to shoot.
Access: How Equipment and Vehicles Get In
Loading in a campaign set should not take half a day.
Large builds, props and vehicles need a direct route onto the studio floor. Confirm the drive-in clearance height and whether access is at ground level, because a restriction found on the morning of the shoot is an expensive one.
Studio A has 17ft drive-in clearance and Studio 1 has 14ft, both straight onto the studio floor. That covers most vehicles, set builds and production transport without a separate loading process.
Ask for the clearance height in feet before you ask for the day rate.
Power: The Question Most Briefs Skip
Large lighting setups draw serious power. Get the figures in writing.
Multi-head lighting, motion rigs and a full crew's equipment add up quickly. The figures worth asking for are total amperage and whether three-phase supply is available. If a studio cannot state them clearly, treat that as a warning sign.
Studio A carries 3 x 400A supply plus 3-phase 63A sockets. Power panel details for each studio are published on the site, so your gaffer can check them before the recce rather than during it.
Make sure the studio has enough power to run everything, so you don’t need to hire a generator.
Workstreams: Stills, Motion, Podcast and Review
Modern campaigns produce far more than one set of images.
A single campaign can now include stills, motion, social cutdowns, podcast recordings and interviews. If every one of those has to be booked at a different venue, the budget and the schedule both stretch. Check what else the site offers beyond the main shooting space.
Alongside the studios, Malcolm Ryan Studios has a dedicated podcast studio and production offices, so interviews, recording and client review can run on the same site as the shoot.
The more workstreams one site can hold, the fewer moving parts you manage.
Crew Logistics: The Details That Decide the Day
A studio that works on paper but not on shoot day is a logistics problem from the moment the crew arrives.
Larger crews expose gaps quickly. Confirm whether make-up and wardrobe rooms are included in the hire, whether catering is on site, and whether parking is free and close to the studio. Each one removed from your own to-do list is one fewer supplier to coordinate.
Malcolm Ryan Studios has make-up and wardrobe rooms on site, catering for any size of crew, and free parking. The site is used by brands including Charlotte Tilbury, H&M and Apple.
The facilities that look like extras are often the ones that make the shoot day.
What should you look for when booking an advertising campaign studio?
Malcolm Ryan Studios offers advertising campaign studio hire across five studios in South West London, with over 30,000 sq ft of studio and production space, a podcast studio, on-site catering and free parking. Located at Wimbledon Stadium Business Centre, SW17.