Pinewood Group has pulled out of Iskandar Malaysia Studios, ending a 10-year partnership with the facility’s local backers. Pinewood, which provided its brand, consultancy, and marketing, and the Malaysian studio confirmed the move Thursday.
The name of the 124,000-square-foot has now been changed from Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios to Iskandar Malaysia Studios.
The complex covers 30 acres and was set up by Pinewood and the Malaysian government’s investment holding arm as a creative hub in Asia Pacific. Ahead of its opening in 2014, the local film development body talked up plans to transform Malaysia into a destination for filmmakers from around the world, with a target of bringing in $1 billion a year and creating 10,000 jobs by 2020. Projects shot at the facility include Netflix’s “Marco Polo.”
“Pinewood Group’s collaboration with IMS comes to a close by mutual agreement, following a 10 year partnership,” Pinewood and Iskandar Malaysia Studios said in a joint statement. “With the initial objectives of the collaboration achieved – including the development of the Studios in Malaysia – both parties will now focus on the next phase of their respective businesses.”
For Pinewood, that next phase will include major expansion of both its Pinewood and Shepperton sites in the U.K. The latter will be the site of a major British production hub for Netflix. Plans are underway to hugely increase Shepperton’s footprint. The Malaysia deal was struck by a previous management team before the Pinewood group was acquired by Aermont Capital in a £323.3 million ($419 million) deal in 2016.