Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer is part of the group of new owners of the BBC's legendary Maida Vale recording studios.
On Monday, it was announced that Maida Vale has been sold to a partnership between Zimmer & Steven Kofsky, and Working Title co-chairmen Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner.
"Maida Vale has played such an important part in the BBC's history, and its significance in popular culture is huge. We are so pleased to secure a sale which looks to continue the bright, vibrant future of music making in this iconic building -- not only providing new studio spaces, but jobs and an education facility," Lorna Clarke, director of music at the BBC, said in a statement.
"We look forward to being able to continue to deliver world-class music to BBC audiences with our new tailor-made BBC Music Studios in the wonderfully rich cultural district of London's East Bank," she added. "The sale of Maida Vale comes after plans were announced in 2018 that the BBC will move its music studios and performing groups from its Maida Vale location to a new, purpose-built recording and studio space in Stratford's cultural quarter of East Bank, residing in East London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park."
The purchasers of Maida Vale plan to keep the original facade of the building and invest millions of dollars to refurbish its existing studio and create a not-for-profit educational facility."My work with Working Title gave me my career in Hollywood, where Steve Kofsky became my partner, and he and I made sure to drag the work from as many Hollywood films as possible back to Britain," said Zimmer, who began his career recording at Maida Vale 45 years ago.
"So now I want to close the circle: make Maida Vale Studios a place that inspires, teaches, technologically serves the arts and humanity, and gives the next generation the same opportunities I was given: to create and to never give up."
