Shinfield Studios’ joint Managing Directors Nick Smith and Ian Johnson are to retire from their positions at the end of the year.
The daily operations of Shinfield Studios will be led by Dean Horne, Vice President of Global Studio Operations, and Charlene St Aubyn, Financial Controller. Both have been part of the studios’ team since the early phases of construction.
Smith and Johnson have played a key role in creating the UK’s largest new film and television studio which has 18 sound stages and supporting facilities and is situated close to Reading in Berkshire.
They oversaw negotiations to acquire the 1,000,000ft2 site, the facilities masterplan design, securing planning permission and its construction.
Shinfield has so far hosted productions including Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte, Netflix’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, feature film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and an upcoming adaptation of Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree.
In a statement, Shinfield said that having built the management and operations team responsible for the day-to-day running of the site and attracting major productions from clients such as Disney, Sony and Netflix, Smith and Johnson have decided this is the right time to hand over to the established Shinfield Studios operations team.
Peter Rumbold, CEO of Shinfield-parent company Shadowbox Studios, said: “I would like to thank both Nick and Ian for all of their efforts in helping to create a world class film and television studio in Shinfield. They’ve paved the way for our best-in-class operations team, led by Dean Horne, and secured an exceptional pipeline of productions into 2025 and beyond.”
You are not signed in
Only registered users can comment on this article.
.jpg)
Expanded Future Tech to showcase the very best in innovation, technology and talent
After a successful debut in 2025, Future Tech returns to Hall 14 of the RAI this year, with more features, more innovation and more of the technologies shaping the next era of media and entertainment.
.jpg)
UK TV industry advocates out-of-hours guidelines
The UK television industry has backed new guidelines to minimise out-of-hours contact to help improve work-life balance in the sector.
.jpg)
EU approves Paramount's WBD acquisition with conditions
The European Commission has approved Paramount Skydance’s proposed $110bn acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Isabel Davis to become Director of BFI Filmmaking Funds
The British Film Institute (BFI) has named Isabel Davis as Director of its BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Funds.
Netflix uses GenAI on 300 titles in 2026
Netflix has revealed that nearly 300 titles on its platform have used generative AI, from early concept stages and pre-visualisation through to post-production and release.
