October is set to be a particularly cinematic month in London. The BFI London Film Festival returns to the capital, new seasons kick off across a host of streaming services and, at BMA House, preparations are underway to host a major emerging talent and film financing event delivered by Film London.
It feels like an appropriate moment to shine a spotlight on another side of BMA House: its growing role as a location for film and television.
The Grade II listed Sir Edwin Lutyens building may be best known within the events industry as a central London conference and events venue, but look at it through the eyes of a location manager and something different emerges.
What do an embassy, a government building, a private residence and a healthcare setting have in common?
Potentially, they can all be found behind the same front door in Bloomsbury.
BMA House offers an unusually diverse collection of interiors and exteriors. A production can move from the scale of the Great Hall to the more intimate character of the Prince’s room. The light-filled Garden room opens onto a mature botanical Garden, while the Courtyard provides an enclosed exterior framed by imposing architecture.
A single recce can therefore uncover several very different potential locations without a production having to move across London.
That versatility has already seen BMA House used for productions including Red Eye, Slow Horses, Bridgerton and The Diplomat. But what appears in front of the camera is only part of what makes a successful filming location.
Behind every shot sits the production itself: crew, equipment, costume, hair and make-up, catering, storage, power, access and the countless practical requirements needed to turn an attractive building into a workable set. Here, BMA House’s day-to-day role as a major events venue becomes an advantage.
The building combines heritage architecture with practical infrastructure including three-phase power, goods lifts and numerous additional rooms that can potentially be used as holding and supporting spaces. Its size also means the team can consider how different areas, access routes and production requirements work together rather than looking at a location in isolation.
The starting point is therefore not simply: “Which room would you like?” Instead, the team wants to understand what a production is trying to achieve. Reference imagery, mood boards and the wider practical brief can help uncover spaces and possibilities that might otherwise be missed.
And sometimes the most interesting locations are the least obvious. Few visitors arriving in Bloomsbury expect to discover a secluded botanical Garden behind the building’s imposing façade. Elsewhere, contrasting architectural details and less familiar corners can take a production somewhere completely different from the grand rooms it first came to see.
As London celebrates film this October, BMA House will be welcoming Film London through its doors and continuing to explore the opportunities filming can bring.
One building. Many possible locations. The question is what BMA House will be cast as next.
To discuss filming in our grounds and building, contact the BMA House Events Team on 020 7874 7020 or events@bma.org.uk.
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Author: Beth Hancock
Beth Hancock is a Media and Events Sales Consultant at Event Industry News where she helps event industry brands amplify their presence through targeted advertising, marketing, and media opportunities. Passionate about connecting suppliers, venues, and innovators with organisers and decision-makers across the global events sector
