THREE HIVE STUDIOS

Three Hive Studios is a photography and video production studio located at 700 Henry Cir in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, a borough just west of Reading in Berks County. The business operates as a full production facility rather than a single-purpose photography room, combining rentable studio space with an in-house creative team that handles direction, lighting, cinematography, and still photography. The studio can be reached at +1 610-871-7723.

The facility serves commercial clients, independent photographers, content creators, podcasters, and businesses that need recurring visual assets. Because the studio is set up with multiple staging areas and a flexible floor plan, it accommodates a range of production types on the same property, from a single-person headshot session to a multi-camera video shoot with a full crew.

Services and Capabilities

Three Hive Studios operates across several related lines of work. The most common use of the space falls into a few categories:

• Commercial and brand video production, including scripted spots, testimonial pieces, and promotional content for regional businesses
• Commercial photography, including product shots, brand imagery, and lifestyle sessions built around prepared sets
• Portrait and headshot work for professionals, teams, and small businesses
• Podcast recording, with space configured for seated multi-person conversations and audio capture
• Studio rental for outside photographers and production companies who bring their own clients and equipment
• Event hosting for smaller gatherings, workshops, and networking meetings that benefit from a designed backdrop

The rental model is a meaningful part of how the studio functions. Independent photographers in the Reading and greater Berks County area use the space when a client project calls for a controlled environment, seamless backdrops, or a particular set look that would be impractical to build in a home studio or on location. Those photographers typically work alongside the in-house staff, who assist with lighting, set adjustments, and logistics during the booking.

The Studio Space

The defining feature of Three Hive Studios is the number and variety of staging setups available on site. Rather than a single cyclorama wall, the facility contains several distinct, purpose-built environments that clients can move between during a shoot. This allows a production to capture multiple looks in one session without breaking down and rebuilding sets, which shortens production days and reduces cost for clients booking hourly.

The sets are designed and maintained in-house, and they are periodically refreshed. For video work, the studio is equipped with professional lighting instruments and grip gear, which is handled by staff who specialize in lighting design rather than being treated as an afterthought. For photography, the space supports both natural-looking setups and fully controlled strobe work.

The common areas of the building have been treated with the same attention as the sets themselves. The waiting and reception area is decorated with a nostalgic, collection-driven theme that gives visitors something to look at before a session begins. It is an unusual touch for a production facility, and it contributes to the informal, relaxed tone that the studio maintains during shoots.

The Team

Three Hive Studios is led by Jeff Tomrell, who handles client communication, scheduling, and the overall production process. Clients typically deal with him directly from the initial inquiry through the shoot day, which keeps planning decisions and on-set execution in the same hands.

The studio works with a group of specialists rather than a single generalist operator. Tony Mancuso directs video productions and handles the narrative and cinematic side of a shoot. John Sander works on lighting design, shaping how a set reads on camera. Rich Abraham handles photography. Having distinct roles assigned to distinct people means larger productions can move quickly, because each element of the setup is being managed simultaneously by someone whose focus is on that element alone.

For clients who have never been on a set before, this structure has a practical benefit. The people being filmed or photographed are usually the least experienced individuals in the room, and the crew is accustomed to walking subjects through what is happening, adjusting pacing, and keeping the atmosphere loose enough that the footage looks natural.

Location and Access

Sinking Spring sits along the Penn Avenue corridor west of Reading, with access from Route 422 and a short drive to Wyomissing, West Lawn, and Shillington. The studio's Henry Circle location places it in a commercial area with on-site parking rather than in a downtown district with metered street parking, which matters for productions that need to load in equipment, wardrobe, props, or products.

The parking lot includes wheelchair accessible parking. Clients with specific accessibility questions about the interior of the building or about a particular set should contact the studio in advance so arrangements can be confirmed before the booking.

The studio's practical service area extends across Berks County and into the surrounding region, including Lancaster, Lebanon, and the Lehigh Valley. Clients traveling from Philadelphia and its western suburbs are roughly an hour away by car, and the studio draws bookings from photographers and companies outside Berks County who are looking for set variety that is not available closer to home.

Planning a Booking

Prospective clients generally begin with a phone call to describe the project and its deliverables. Because the studio handles both production services and space rental, the first conversation usually establishes which of those a client needs, or what combination of the two. Details worth having ready include:

• The type of output required, such as video, still images, or audio
• The number of people who will be on site, including subjects, crew, and any client representatives
• How many distinct looks or sets the project calls for
• Whether hair, makeup, wardrobe, or props need space and time on the schedule
• Timeline for delivery of the finished files
• Whether outside crew or equipment will be brought in

Site visits are common before a booking is confirmed, and they give clients the chance to see the available sets in person and plan a shot list around what the space actually offers. For businesses that produce content on a recurring basis, the studio also works with clients on repeat schedules, which allows sets and lighting configurations to be reused consistently across a series of sessions.