Barbican cements position as a premier destination for film and photography shoots
The Barbican Centre, London’s iconic multi-arts and conference venue, is growing its position as a location of choice for film and photography shoots.
In the last calendar year alone, the Barbican Business Events team has hosted more than £150k of shoots, attracting prestigious brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Adidas, Harper’s Bazaar, Amazon, John Lewis, Doc Martens, French Connection, Net a Porter, Madame Tussauds, and Tinie Tempah for Chase Vodka.
As a hub for high-profile productions, the Barbican’s unique architectural and aesthetic appeal has made it a sought-after location for various high-profile shoots. This was recently highlighted when ‘The Kitchen,’ directed by Daniel Kaluuya and starring Kano, spent a week filming in the Barbican Conservatory. The film, which was recently released on Netflix, showcases the versatility and visually inspiring offering of the Barbican’s spaces.
From the lush greenery of the Conservatory to the vastness of the Barbican Hall, and the iconic brutalist architecture framing the London skyline, the Barbican offers an array of unique filming locations. These spaces provide a mix of inspiring backdrops and transformable canvases for a wide range of productions.
With event planning and the arts at its core, the Barbican team is experienced in managing both large and small-scale productions. Each booking is allocated a dedicated event manager, ensuring shoots run smoothly and successfully. This operational excellence, combined with the venue’s stunning aesthetics, makes the Barbican an ideal choice for filmmakers and photographers alike.
“The Barbican has had many memorable moments in images and on screens over the years, however, this focus from our team on the development of new business in this area is not just reaping significant rewards, it is also opening new areas of the venue and estate for external usage,” comments Barbican Head of Sales, Jenny Waller. “As a not-for-profit organisation, the funds generated from these shoots are reinvested directly into our arts and learning programme, making this not just a growing revenue stream but an opportunity for us to enable the widest possible range of people to experience the joy of the arts.”
A representative of The Production Factory said following a recent shoot: “The Barbican team were incredibly helpful with all elements of pulling our shoot together. In preproduction they were quick to respond to all queries and very clear with the parameters we could work within. On the shoot day we had an assigned event manager to help that the day ran smoothly, and it made a huge difference having someone on hand to offer support as and when needed. Will definitely be coming back for another shoot soon!”
Further information on filming and photography opportunities are available through the Barbican Business Events sales team. Barbican Business Events also exhibit annually at FOCUS London, the UK’s leading event bringing together suppliers and content creators.
About Barbican Business Events
The Barbican is one of the world’s leading conference and international arts venues. Located in the City of London, it is capable of holding meetings from 10-2,000 delegates in its fully equipped concert hall, theatres, conference suites and boardrooms. Barbican Business Events brings together the venue’s expertise in the arts and corporate meetings.
Built as part of London’s Barbican development and officially opened in March 1982 by HM Queen Elizabeth, unlike many other venues, Barbican was specifically built with the dual purpose of holding conferences and arts events presenting a diverse range of art, music, theatre, dance, film and creative learning.
The Barbican’s Business Events team contributes to the venue’s future success. To make the most of the Barbican’s rich culture and heritage, Barbican Business Events was created to bring together their expertise in three very different areas – the arts, creative learning and corporate business. This approach to corporate events is based on stronger, more in-depth partnerships with their artistic, creative learning and development teams in order to bring more creativity and rich content to events.
The Barbican provides a vibrant and inspiring venue for corporate events, conferences, meetings and entertainment. The venue is capable of holding meetings from 10-2,000 delegates in spaces including a concert hall, theatres, a boardroom and conference suites that can accommodate 10-170 delegates and can be adjusted using sound proofed sliding. As part of its wider investment strategy, the Barbican spent £2.2m on a significant refurbishment throughout the Centre in the summer of 2016 including its Frobisher rooms and Level 4. The focus of the Frobisher refurbishment is designed to create an even stronger connection between the Centre’s main conference and meeting facilities and its arts spaces.
About the Barbican
A world-class arts and learning organisation, the Barbican pushes the boundaries of all major art forms including dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts. Its creative learning programme further underpins everything it does. Over a million people attend events annually, hundreds of artists and performers are featured, and more than 300 staff work onsite. The architecturally renowned centre opened in 1982 and comprises the Barbican Hall, the Barbican Theatre, The Pit, Cinemas 1, 2 and 3, Barbican Art Gallery, a second gallery The Curve, public spaces, a library, the Lakeside Terrace, a glasshouse conservatory, conference facilities and three restaurants. The City of London Corporation is the founder and principal funder of the Barbican Centre.
