LOCATION
The Beats Go On in Metro Atlanta By Carol Badaracco Padgett
E very story told on film has its beats—those moments that propel a story forward. So maybe it can be said that filmmaking cities have their beats too, in a sense. Another studio. Another story. Another beat of the economic heart. Atlanta’s latest is NBCUniversal Studios— think production and distribution of films Belfast , Licorice Pizza , and House of Gucci last year, with Jurassic World Dominion this. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) , NBCUniversal Studios plans to operate a massive production campus in Doraville in DeKalb County, Georgia, less than 25 minutes up I-85N from downtown Atlanta. The site: the old General Motors plant that opened in 1947 on a whopping 165 acres. GM closed the factory in 2008 during a corporate restructuring, reportedly, and then sold it to an Atlanta team of developers (including The Integral Group and Macauley+Schmit) for $50 million in 2014. A portion of the site was then sold to car dealerships, according to a June 1, 2022, report by AJC reporter Rod- ney Ho. Another section became the headquarters for Serta Simmons Bedding. Then, seven acres of the prop- erty became a small film studio, Third Rail Studios, that has acted as the production hub for Netflix’s Ozark and NBC’s Good Girls . NBCUniversal Studios plans to operate a massive production campus in DeKalb County, Georgia, just up I-85N from downtown Atlanta. The site: the old General Motors plant that opened in 1947.
Rendering of Assembly Studios, courtesy of Gray Television
Next, Atlanta’s Gray Television, one of the nation’s largest local TV station owners, signed a multi-year lease agreement to run its new Assembly Studios on the rambling NBCUniversal Studios property, as well, according to the AJC . Aligning itself with NBCUniversal will reportedly ensure that Gray’s new studio gets a major influx of big-name productions. Amid all this activity, the office of Doraville Mayor Joseph Geierman issued a press release that shared his sentiments on Gray’s movement in the old Doraville GM plant/new NBCUniversal property and the upcoming development of Gray’s Assembly Studio there. “Their investment in Assembly will accelerate Gray Television’s plans to transform the site of our former GM Plant into a true ‘Studio City,’” Geierman stated. “The economic impact to Doraville, metro Atlanta, and the state of Georgia cannot be overstated. Additionally, this announcement dovetails perfectly with the city’s efforts to develop a new city center.” According to representatives for Gray, Assembly Studios will cover 43 acres and include production of- fices, soundstages, warehouses, event space, and a park- ing deck. Gray reps also told Ho that NBCUniversal Stu- dios will step in and manage Third Rail Studios, and that NBC will eventually build a suite of film and television support offices. Gray, too, will have its own studio space there for its Swirl Films.
In summer 2021, crews began building the Assembly Studios complex, while Swirl Films’ facilities were under construction by the end of 2021. By late 2023, the Assembly Studios complex is projected for completion. And then over the next 5-7 years, Gray plans to build a town center that will include multi-family housing like condos and apartments, retail, restaurants, e-gaming facilities, a boutique hotel, office buildings and a conference center. All of this focus on and development in the metro Atlanta area by major players in the film, TV and entertainment industry is really no surprise—the early presence of studios like Tyler Perry and Trilith were a foreshadowing of the continued growth to come, growth that spawns from a powerful economic hook. According to Ho’s AJC report, the state granted $1.2 billion in tax credits for the year ending June 30, 2021, to companies like Netflix, Paramount and Sony—with an estimated $4 billion in direct capital investment from 366 eligible TV shows and films. Clearly, the focus of major players such as these on coming to Atlanta from California, NYC, New Mexico, and Canada, for instance, signals confidence in the tax credit system of Georgia and its strength moving forward. And for Atlanta and Georgia as a whole, the beats go on.
@cityofatlantaga | @NBCUniversal | @ajcnews
34 | THE GEORGIA HOLLYWOOD REVIEW | FALL 2022
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