Sands Films

Sands Films building
Industry	Film production
Founded	1975
Headquarters	London , England
Website	www.sandsfilms.co.uk

Sands Films is a small, independent, British film production company, founded by producer Richard Goodwin and director Christine Edzard in the early 1970s, and based in Rotherhithe, London. The company is known for its production of costumes for period dramas and is run by Olivier Stockman and Christine Edzard. Since 2005 the building has been open to the public regularly via the Sands Films Cinema Club and Music Room, adding to the "remarkable and very valuable operation, which not only creates in-house, but also opens a window on another world."^[1]

The building that Sands Films occupies is a former granary, now a grade II listed building.^[2] The business was founded in 1975^[3] and, since 1976, it has housed a small film stage, film theatre, picture library, workshops and costume stores.^[4] The Goodwins initially used the derelict building rent-free, on the basis they completely repaired and renovated the property.^[5] Managing director Olivier Stockman has worked for Sands Studios since 1980.^[3]

In 2011, the company's annual turnover exceeded £1 million for the first time.^[5] After its rent almost quadrupled since 2000 and it had been asked to pay back-rent for an unrenovated part of the building, the company began to raise funds to purchase the property. This included selling shares at £500 each,^[5] and later in 2012, they successfully bought the property, with plans to modernise its production facilities. The studio and its struggle to survive increasing rent and costs was the subject of a BBC Inside Out program in 2012.^[6] The BBC film also highlights the four generations who have worked at Sands since it was founded.^[7]

As an independent film production studio Sands Films has its own soundproof stage, workshops, costume department, set construction workshop, cutting room, cinema and other services needed to make films. It is a self-sufficient and fully integrated production facility. Cinema and television companies as varied as Working Title, Talkback, BBC, Channel 4, Freemantle, Ridley Scott Associates, Sky TV, the Royal Opera House, the New York Metropolitan Opera and Canal+ have used the facilities at Sands Films for their projects.

The weekly film club is free, with donations invited, and is housed in a "cosy" cinema in the 18th century building which contains "a myriad of aesthetically pleasing spaces". These include music performances, book launches, political debates and theatre productions, as well as the non-digital Rotherhithe Picture Research Library which is an educational trust and is open to all at no cost.^[8][9]

With the covid-19 lockdown the studio intensified its live streaming activities. Stockman explained:

“Sands Films always had a connection with live music and music performance in general. But during the Covid lockdown, the studio’s recording and broadcasting facilities were made available to musicians who were deprived of their live audience, and therefore of their income. We offered the Music Room as accessible and open to all: without a paywall, fees or anything. All we asked is for donations from those who can afford it."^[7]

Since then all Sands Films’ music events have been hybrid, with a live audience in the theatre, online viewers at home and unrestricted access remaining the same. While performers are paid a minimum guarantee, Stockman says:

"Our open door policy reflects the fact that art and culture should not be treated as commodities. Music, in particular, is destined to all and should not be conditional upon a financial transaction.”^[7]

Griff Rhys Jones has described Sands Films as "romantic and inspiring; efficient, fun and creative. I love working down there. I love the atmosphere. You feel lucky to be there and privileged to get stuck into the serious business of creating fantasy in such surroundings.” ^[10]

Productions by Sands Films include Stories from a Flying Trunk (1979), The Nightingale (1981), Biddy (1983), Little Dorrit (1987), Old Ways New Ways (1988), The Fool (1989), As You Like It (1991), Amahl and the Night Visitors (1996), The IMAX Nutcracker (1997), The Children's Midsummer Night's Dream (2001) and The Good Soldier Schwejk (2018).

The studio has delivered full production packages to companies requiring a London studio base, such as A Passage to India (1984) and Bright Star (2009). Sands Films was the production base for The Long Day Closes (1992), including the building of all sets. Sands Films supplied facilities to Working Title's productions of Anna Karenina (2012) and Les Miserables (2012), and to Touching the Void (2003). The studio was a co-production partner on A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1990), La luna en botella (2007) and Garbo: El espia (2009).

Other films the company has been involved in for production services include Agatha Christie films produced by EMI - Death on the Nile) (1978),^[11] The Mirror Crack'd (1980), Evil Under The Sun (1982) - and Seven Years in Tibet (1997). Sands hand-embroidered the costumes for the main characters in the BBC's 2015 series Wolf Hall.^[12]

In 2017, Sands Films produced The Good Soldier Schwejk, written and directed by Christine Edzard and based on The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek. The project partly was funded by the auction of a costume worn by Mark Rylance in the BBC's Wolf Hall.^[13]

Filming began in October 2024 for a new production called The Man with the Plan which will star Simon Callow and comedian Mark Thomas.^[14]

• Sands Films at IMDb
• Sands Films website
• Londonist Discovers Rotherhithe Picture Research Library
• Knowledge of London Visits Sands Films and Rotherhithe Picture Research Library
• TripAdvisor