There’s a lot going on in Mortlake at the Stag Brewery Film Studio.

In April 2024 The Story Collective, a production company co-founded by Simon Vaughan and Damian Keogh, a Barnes resident, launched The Story Works at the Stag Brewery in Mortlake. The Story Works is a film and television studio complex developed and owned by The Story Collective. The Story Collective, co-founded by Simon Vaughan and Damian Keogh, is the company behind the development and management of The Story Works.

The Story Works is described as the “largest film and television studio in the heart of London,” and it provides production offices, workshops, and soundstages. The site has also been used for outdoor set construction, like the Victorian East London docks and back-streets for the Disney+ drama series “A Thousand Blows”. 

The highly praised A Thousand Blows filmed on the site in 2023 has already been shown on Disney + (and can still be streamed) with a second season already in the can. The Guardian awarded the series five stars, praising its depth of storytelling and themes.  Stylist Magazine lauded it as “an immersive, entertaining, and gripping watch,” with particular praise for its “grandiosity” enhanced by authentic costumes and film sets. 

A sequel to Downton Abbey has been filmed and more is expected. Filming for the fourth season of Jack Reacher will begin in the summer of 2025.

Exciting times. And if the Academy does not get the planning go-ahead in the forthcoming decisions of the Planning Inspector or the Department for Education, the company would be up for expansion on the site. That could get really exciting.

And as a tailpiece residents of Palewell Park can expect to see some live action next month, and even hire out their off-street parking spaces!