Written by Kianna Best on Jan 31, 2024. Posted in On Location / Production News

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg reunite for Apple TV+ project Masters of the Air

Apple TV+’s  Masters of the Air, starring Austin Butler and Callum Turner, reunites  Band of Brothers collaborators Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks once again for the World War II set series. Written by John Orloff, the book adaptation tells the story of the men of the 100^th Bomb Group. The drama series filmed across UK based locations including Hemel Hempstead and Bovingdon Airfield Studios orchestrated with the help of supervising location manager Emma Pill.

 

 

In recounting the experiences of the 8th Air Force, Masters of the Air filmed across a number of UK locations and studios to contribute to the authenticity of the airmen’s stories. Filmed predominantly on the outskirts of London, significant historical locations such as the 100^th Bomb Squad’s base Station 139 in Thorpe Abbots, Norfolk, as well as peripheral war torn landscapes, were recreated.

 

For nine months from 2021 to 2022, the Masters of the Air cast and crew set up at Bovingdon Airfield Studios. Originally RAF Bovingdon, and utilised by the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces, the 100 acre Hertfordshire based facility is steeped in WWII history, carrying that into their involvement with war based films such as Sam Mendes’ 1917, Steve McQueen’s The War Lover, and now Masters of the Air. The recent Apple TV+ release transformed the expansive sound stages into a war torn and rubble-ridden German town, a feat proving to be “logistically very complex,” as remarked by Bovingdon Airfield Studios managing director Harvey Mash.

 

 

“The sets they built were some of the largest and most believable we’ve ever seen,” added Mash. “We particularly looked forward to seeing those German streets sequences as they were so impressive behind the scenes. They also plunged us into winter snow, and naturally - being a war series - there was plenty of gunfire, smoke and explosions. The production was also lovely to work with, so it was a great experience all round.”

 

Seeping into the surrounding Hertfordshire landscape, Hemel Hempstead’s high street shop fronts were also bombed out and made over as shelters for production. With news breaking of Masters of the Air’s arrival to the area in August of 2021, the Dacorum Borough Council were more than ready for excitement the project would generate for the local community and outsiders alike.

 

 

“The production team for Masters of the Air were really good with local residents, businesses and using our local suppliers - making this a really film positive experience for the borough,”  Amy Greenland, filming lead officer for Dacorum Borough council commented: Dacorum is very fortunate to have many iconic film studios on our doorstep, and being so close to London allows film crews to use the towns and villages here as a location without needing to completely relocate. The creative industries visiting and using local businesses and services brings economic benefit to the area, plus -filming is a fantastic talking point when people visit the borough!”

 

Historical locations for the WWII set narrative were also easily doubled throughout Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Panorama Farm near Aylesbury was able to double for a Belgian farm in the series, with the director “drawn to the impressive panoramic views across the stone stable yard” according to Farm Location founder Jo Thompson.

 

 

Masters of the Air, based off of the Donald L Miller book of the same name, follows the men of Bloody Hundredth and their bombing raids over Nazi Germany from 25,000 feet in the air. From German prisoner war camps to the villages of southeast England, the drama captures the flight paths by the airmen, as well as their personal and war based experiences, on a staggering cinematic scale. Executive produced by Band of Brothers producing team Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, the drama series stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook and Ncuti Gatwa.

 

 

Images courtesy of Apple TV+