Shoreham Studio was actually started with
NO STUDIO by 4 friends living in Shoreham By Sea in Sussex. Shoreham By
Sea was a small community that had become a get-away for theater people
because of the clean air and quaint atmostphere. Francis Leonard Lyndhurst
(artist), Will Evans (comedian), Arthur Conquest (comedian), and George
Graves (comedian), set up to film comedy shorts using the seaside and Shoreham
Fort, (an experimental fort built in 1857) as the backdrop for their films.
They called their company Sunny
South Film Co. and made a few open air films in 1914.
In 1915 Lyndhurst took control of the company,
changed the name to Sealight
Film Co. and built Shoreham Studio. It was initially a huge greenhouse
measuring 45x75 with a 30 foot ceiling(shown above).
Unfortunately the outbreak of World War
I curtailed any additional progress and Lyndhurst sold Shoreham in 1916
to the Olympic Kine Trading Company. Again because of the war, nothing
was produced at the studio until it was purchased in 1918 by Sidney Morgan
with The Progress Film Company.
Shoreham was the only remaining
studio in the UK that relied on daylight for filming after World War I.
Morgan moved his production to Shoreham.
He purchased additional land and started expanding the facilities, by adding
a joiner's shop, darkroom facilities, a preview theatre and cast and crew
accommodation. Morgan released his films through Butcher's Film Service
and produced approximately 20 films there.
In 1922, Shoreham caught fire and burned
to the ground. Financial pressure from technological advancements kedt Morgan
from rebuilding.
Here's what we have on Shoreham
in our archive
Here's a GREAT website on Shoreham.
