Toyota returns to Oldham to film a spectacular light projection powered by green hydrogen

The 19th century Booth House building in Werneth was the focus for the highly complex and technically advanced location shoot

Historic Oldham landmark Booth House provided the backdrop for a lighting projection spectacle which depicted the rise of Toyota from a family weaving firm to a global manufacturing giant.

The 19th century building in Werneth was the focus for the highly complex and technically advanced location shoot last Tuesday (February 28). 

The event was all the more significant in being the first in Europe to be powered entirely by “green” hydrogen, aligning perfectly with the film’s theme of Toyota’s progress towards a future carbon-free society. 

Toyota is pioneering the use of hydrogen as a plentiful source of renewable energy that can be produced and used without creating harmful emissions.

The film crew’s power needs were met by portable generators that produced 300kg of hydrogen (equivalent to about 1500 litres of diesel), while the action included a wide variety of the zero emission vehicles Toyota is manufacturing today, including cars, coaches and fork lifts.

Even the on-set catering truck ran on hydrogen. 

Although thousands of miles distant from Toyota Motor Corporation’s base in Japan, Booth House represents a significant moment in the company’s history.

In 1929, the Toyoda family weaving business sold patents to its revolutionary automatic loom to Platt Brothers, once the world’s largest manufacturer of textile machinery, employing more than 12,000 people. 

The funds raised through the sale were used by Kiichiro Toyoda to kick-start research into vehicle manufacturing, leading to the founding of the first automobile department at the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in 1933.

Three years later, the first car, the AA sedan, rolled off the production line.

In 1937 the Toyota Motor Company was formed, the forerunner of today’s Toyota Motor Corporation, one of the world’s best-known and successful automotive businesses. 

The finished film is set to be revealed in April. 

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