Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney — Britain wins whoever comes out on top in the streaming wars

Who will win the streaming wars? For Britain’s film and TV industry, it doesn’t matter much — we benefit whatever happens.

Amazon today announced a multi-million pound deal to take studio space at Pinewood Studios, where parts of No Time to Die were shot, for the next decade. It is the tech giant’s first dedicated studio space here and will host UK productions for Prime Video, as well as international titles such as its new Lord of the Rings series.

Amazon’s next-door neighbour is Netflix, which set up a dedicated UK production hub at Pinewood back in 2019. It makes the likes of The Crown and Sex Education on the sprawling site just outside London.

Then there’s Apple, filming Ted Lasso at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park ground, and streaming giant Disney, which announced its first slate of UK productions last April.

The biggest streaming platforms have been throwing huge sums at exclusive content and are set to spend more than $100 billion on production this year alone.

While a fair chunk will go the way of Hollywood, Britain is a big beneficiary. Stats out last week from the BFI show that a record £5.6 billion was spent on TV and film production in the UK last year. The previous record was in 2019, prior to the pandemic.

Huge investment partly reflects the fact Britain is an affluent country where people will pay decent money to watch shows that reflect their own lives. But it also reflects the depth and talent of Britain’s creative industry.

Film and TV production has a rich history stretching back to Pinewood’s first glory days in the 1960s. It scored a more recent boost from the production of blockbusters like Harry Potter and the new Star Wars films.

There’s an old saying in investment: in a gold rush, sell shovels.

When it comes to the streaming boom, Britain is fast becoming the shovel seller in chief.