Pinewood Studios, the British film studio home to the James Bond franchise and others, announced on Monday that they will move to the United States for the first time to open a production facility near Atlanta, Georgia.
“Today’s agreement is another step forward for the Pinewood brand internationally,” said Ivan Dunleavy, CEO of Pinewood Shepperton PLC, adding that Georgia has “excellent fiscal incentives and a great crew base.”
Pinewood’s Georgia film complex will be called Pinewood Atlanta, and the studio will manage the large-scale facility through an agreement with private investors. The studio will be built on 288 acres south of Atlanta and will include five soundstages and various production offices.
The Pinewood announcement is huge news for Georgia’s film business, which has grown rapidly in recent years. It has even been predicted by some to rival, even overtake, Hollywood in terms of film production incentive and power.
Soon-to-release Iron Man 3 reportedly considered shooting in Georgia, but the state did not have a facility that could accommodate them. But successful shows like The Walking Dead and films like The Hunger Games are impressive resume pieces that likely contributed to Pinewood’s decision.
“It takes the state to a whole new level,” said Matt Forshee, president of the Fayette County Development Authority, who was involved in the Pinewood acquisition project.
“When you look at the films that have filmed in Georgia, for the most part, they have been smaller budget films, in the range of $20-25 million. This allows us to open up to larger budget productions, which means more expenditures occurring within the state, which becomes a bigger return on the investment on the state level for the tax credits.”
Pinewood also has studios in the United Kingdom, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Germany and Malaysia. Most recently, Pinewood has hosted the upcoming Angelina Jolie film Maleficent and Jack Ryan .
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