Atlanta is making yet another appearance on the big screen, but this time it’s behind the cameras.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed proudly announced a major partnership between the city and EUE/Screen Gems. The agreement will transform an under-used area of the city, employ local workers, and give a boost to the inner-city neighborhood. It also raises Atlanta’s national profile as a quality filming destination for not only scenery and location, but production capabilities.

“Because of this new partnership, Atlanta will be able to successfully compete with other states and cities who are vying for business within the entertainment industry,” said Mayor Reed in a statement. “Creating these types of advantageous investments in Atlanta is vital in moving Atlanta forward as the next major mecca of the film and television industry,” the mayor added.

The lease was signed that will transform 30 acres with an abandoned building at the city’s Lakewood Fairgrounds into an entertainment destination. The finished destination will host television, commercial, digital, and film production. The 50-year lease assures the company’s commitment to the city and building its brand locally.

EUE/Screen Gems is not the first high-profile studio to open in the city. Filmmaker and playwright Tyler Perry opened his namesake studio in southwest Atlanta in 2008. In similar fashion, Perry’s studio offers a major outlet for film, television and production projects of his respective brand.

Companies such as EUE/Screen Gems and Tyler Perry Studios benefit from the state’s investment in the growing entertainment industry. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, productions have jumped 400 percent in Georgia since the General Assembly passed the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act in 2008. The legislation offers various tax incentives to music, video game, movie, television and other production companies choosing to work in Georgia.

Renovation work on the new EUE/Screen Gems property in Atlanta should be completed by September ahead of its first scheduled production.

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Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — It is an unlikely venue for the renaissance of film production in the Deep South. Lakewood Fairgrounds are sadly dilapidated, overrun with kudzu, located in a poor, rundown part of Atlanta.

But if its boosters are to be believed, Lakewood Fairgrounds could soon be attracting some of Hollywood’s brightest stars to the state.

When it opens, Lakewood will provide state-of-the art facilities for filmmakers to take advantage of Georgia’s aggressive incentives. In 2008, the state introduced the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act. The program seems to be paying off: Last year, Georgia played host to the production of 18 movies and 22 television shows. Among them: “The Blind Side,” “The Last Song,” “Zombieland,” “Lottery Ticket” and “Get Low.”

The investment in 2009 amounted to some $770 million, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. After Lakewood’s completion, that figure could rise quickly.

Lakewood is no stranger to the entertainment business, though many years have passed since its grounds were put to such a use. Before the age of theme parks, it was a family attraction — featuring arcade games, antiques, a carousel and racetrack.

In 1977 and 1980, the fairgrounds were the location for the first and second of Burt Reynolds’ three-part “Smokey and the Bandit” series. The racetrack scenes were filmed at the Lakewood Speedway, which can still be seen on the perimeter of the Lakewood Fairgrounds. (It’s not seen a race of any sort since 1979.) And while the famous wooden roller coaster known as “The Greyhound” no longer exists, it was referenced in all three movies.

Today, hidden among the kudzu, the tops of the Spanish colonial-style buildings are only just visible to those driving by. But after entering the gates, you get a sense of how the 30-acre fairgrounds are being transformed into a studio complex that will welcome not only film and television but also digital production projects.

The site will be leased for the next 50 years by EUE/Screen Gems, a media company that has property in both New York and North Carolina.

“There was such a glaring need for first-rate quality studios in the state,” said Chris Cooney, president and COO of EUE/Screen Gems. “Lakewood was the best option. It had the most attributes that we look for in a studio complex.”

The multimillion dollar-phased renovation includes a 37,500-foot sound stage. But if you’re expecting to find demolished buildings overridden with bulldozers and cement trucks, you’re in for a surprise. The four main structures, which were previously used as exhibition halls to house livestock, are, for the most part, intact and will remain on the grounds.
Both “Zombieland” and “Lottery Ticket” were filmed at the Lakewood site, and new projects are set to begin in a couple of months.
Cooney, who explained that “there is a vast amount of location resources in the state and city,” also said Atlanta offers some unique advantages.

“We have an urban backdrop with Atlanta. That is exciting for filmmakers to have a world-class facility only minutes away from downtown. … That is potent.”
Just as appealing for Cooney and other industry movers is the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act.
Hadjii, a longtime Georgia resident and independent filmmaker, wrote, directed and starred in his first feature film, “Somebodies,” in 2004, which was shot in Athens, Georgia. He later went on to create “Somebodies” as a TV series for the BET network in 2008.
“We took advantage of the tax incentive,” he said. “We were one of the first projects to be able to take advantage of it, and that was very instrumental in helping us convince BET that this was a good place to shoot.”

Under the act, eligible productions can receive up to a 30 percent tax credit granted an animated Georgia logo is imbedded in all projects approved by the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office.

For locals, who are used to the drone of airplanes landing at nearby Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the idea of people coming to the community and working is raising hopes for job dividends.

“Two thousand new jobs have been created as a direct result of the Entertainment Industry Investment Act that was implemented in May 2008,” says Lee Thomas, director of the Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office at the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

“We now have more than 25,000 Georgians employed in the entertainment industry.”

Can Atlanta develop into a hub of film production to rival Los Angeles and New York? Cooney said he believes the city’s trump card is cost.

“We will be able to compete, but it is less competing and more servicing. We feel we can service our clients more effectively with this new studio facility,” he said.

“We are in a cost-pressure economy and cost-pressure industry. Film and television budgets are decreasing, and one must look for production value when producing a film or a television show or a commercial. You must look for cost efficiencies and cost advantages.”

So when you’re at the movies two or three years from now, watch the end credits for a line that says: “Filmed entirely on location in Georgia.”

ATLANTA, GA (WABE) – More big-screen productions could soon be filmed in Atlanta. The city finalized a 50-year leasing agreement for the Lakewood Fairgrounds with EUE/Screen Gems Friday. Mayor Kasim Reed says the leasing agreement will continue to transform Atlanta into an entertainment and movie-making powerhouse.

“I stand here with absolutely no doubt that EUE/Screen Gems and the Cooney family is the right partner for Lakewood Amphitheatre, and that’s why we entered into this partnership.”

Screen Gems President and COO Chris Cooney says, the more six million dollar renovation will turn 30-acres of the fairgrounds into a studio complex with a state of the art sound stage.

“We’re so excited because you’re going to witness the transformation of a legacy site that really had no modern day purpose. We’re going to transform it into a world class facility.”

Cooney says construction on the site will take seven months to complete. Mayor Reed is hopeful the deal will bring between 250 to 500 new jobs to the city.
© Copyright 2010, WABE

EUE/Screen Gems Studio Lot at Lakewood Fairgrounds, Atlanta

Facts and Figures/ August 13, 2010

ABOUT EUE/SCREEN GEMS

Today, EUE/Screen Gems continues to supply production space, studios, technological infrastructure and support for movie, film and commercial producers.

Its Wilmington, N.C. studio campus has been home to more than 350 productions, including “One Tree Hill,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “Matlock” and the HBO comedies “Eastbound & Down” and “Little Britain USA.” Recent films that have called Wilmington home include “Nights in Rodanthe” and “The Secret Life of Bees.” This spring, the company updated wireless and coast-to-coast remote capabilities on its lot in Wilmington. The Wilmington property is also home to Stage 10, a $15 million special effects water tank and sound stage. “One Tree Hill” recently renewed its production contract on the Wilmington lot.

The EUE/Screen Gems’ New York City facility provides high-end production, post-production services and “wired” production offices to CBS’s “Rachael Ray” show. New York clients include Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Food Network and others. The company is also launching a digital content creation studio in New York.

The Lakewood facilities in Atlanta complete the suite of EUE/Screen Gems studio sites. A major entertainment brand has already taped at the Lakewood studios. EUE/Screen Gems was highlighted last weekend in a report by CNN on Georgia’s television and film boom:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/09/lakewood.film.productions/index.html

The company also owns a lighting and grip company in Charleston, S.C.

For more, visit www.euescreengems.com and www.screengemsstudios.com

###

For downloadable images of the Lakewood facilities and EUE/Screen Gems news, visit http://news.euescreengems.com/.

To schedule an interview with Chris Cooney or ask questions, contact:

Susan Dosier, media relations for EUE/Screen Gems
 sdosier@lkmideas.com (704) 953.9408

Stephen Schiff has been hired to write a feature film about Albert Einstein for OddLot Entertainment.

Schiff will write an original screenplay drawn from Einstein materials archived at Princeton and Hebrew Universities, as well as the Walter Isaacson biography, “Einstein: His Life and Universe,” published by Simon & Schuster in 2007.

Early that year, producers Gabe and Alan Polsky of Polsky Films acquired Einstein’s life rights and secured the consulting participation of Isaacson, whose book was about to be published. That deal also included access to Einstein’s personal and professional papers, repped by the Corbis Agency, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which Einstein co-founded in 1918.

The university is the home of Einstein’s intellectual estate, which Isaacson drew on in his book reporting.

Lionsgate later picked up worldwide rights to develop the project, which will focus on the 20 years of the famous scientist’s life leading up to his being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. [UPDATE 6/4 12:50 pm: An OddLot spokesman says that the story actually will span from 1902 to 1939, which is six years after Einstein emigrated to the U.S. to escape rising Nazism.] Lionsgate is no longer involved since OddLot secured the rights from the studio, though the Polsky brothers remain producers.

Gigi Pritzker and Linda McDonough are producing for OddLot, and Christopher Cooney and Jeffrey Cooney are executive producers.

The CAA-repped Schiff adapted Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” for the 1997 film version and Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novel “The Deep End of the Ocean” for the screen. He has also co-written “True Crime” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”

The ICM-repped Isaacson has also written biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger.

OddLot has the drama “Rabbit Hole” and the comedy “From Prada to Nada,” which Lionsgate will release, in production.

Hollywood has Georgia on its mind.

After beefing up its film incentive program in 2008, Georgia has emerged among the top five states in the country for film production, attracting such movies as the Academy Award-winning “The Blind Side,” the Woody Harrelson horror flick “Zombieland” and the fifth installment of Universal’s “Fast & Furious” franchise.

The latest sign of the state’s expanding film business: a sprawling 30-acre studio complex that has opened in the former Lakewood Fairgrounds site near downtown Atlanta. The fairgrounds, owned by the city of Atlanta and until recently used as a venue for a flea market, are a local landmark and already a popular filming site, home for such movies as Burt Reynolds’ 1977 trucker film “Smokey and the Bandit.”

EUE/Screen Gems, a New York City company that also operates studios in Manhattan and Wilmington, N.C., said last week that it would invest $6 million to convert the fairgrounds and its Spanish colonial-style exhibition halls into Georgia’s biggest studio. Although it was formerly owned by Columbia Pictures, the company is not related to the Screen Gems production label now owned by Sony Pictures.

The company plans to build a 37,500-square-foot soundstage, to open next year, and refurbish four other buildings on the property that date to the turn of the last century. When the project is completed in March 2011, the complex will encompass more than 100,000 square feet of sound stages and office space, as well as a set construction shop and lighting and grip facilities.

“Hollywood has been working in the state in the last couple of years in a very significant way, but Georgia has a real dearth of viable facilities,” said Chris Cooney, chief operating officer for EUE/Screen Gems. The nearest large-scale studio to Atlanta is RiverWood Studios, about 45 minutes outside the city, which is operated by Raleigh Studios of Hollywood.

Cooney said producers, directors and studios asked the company to open a facility in Atlanta, given its central location and the allure of the state’s film tax credit, one of the highest in the nation. Among the projects expected to shoot at the Lakewood facility is an adaptation of the Broadway play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” from Atlanta-based filmmaker Tyler Perry.

Under the program, producers can receive a credit equivalent to 30% of their in-state production expenses, which they can apply toward any tax liability they have with the state. Alternately, producers can sell the credit to a third party and pocket the cash, thus lowering production expenses. The credit is broad, applying not only to films and TV shows, but also commercials, music videos, video game development and animation.

Since the credit was increased to 30% from 20% in 2008, production has flooded into the state. Film and TV production spending tripled to $770 million in 2009, according to the Georgia Film Office. In the last two years, 26 movies have shot in the state.

“For the last two years we’ve had a really, really good run,” said Bill Thompson, deputy commissioner in the Georgia Film Office.

He said the new studio would make the state even more attractive to filmmakers. “We’ve always known that one of our deficiencies was that we didn’t have enough studio space. It couldn’t come at a more perfect time.”

-Richard Verrier

EUE/Screen Gems Production Hub Gets Green Light in Georgia

Facts and Figures/ June 3, 2010

• On April 17, 2010, Georgia Film and Television Center, a division of EUE/Screen Gems, Ltd. began the formal process to lease Lakewood Property (known as Lakewood Fairgrounds) from the City of Atlanta for a long-term contract.
• EUE/Screen Gems will use the property to create a studio complex for television, commercial, digital and film production.
• The property lease includes 30 acres of land.
• The lease covers multiple buildings; one building is currently housing a film production with a nationally known entertainment brand. The older Spanish-style buildings that are the landmark features of this property will remain a part of the property.
• Plans also include building a large, state-of-the-art sound stage to be ready in March, 2011.
• EUE/Screen Gems plans a multi-million dollar phased renovation for property development and outfitting. Plans include the development of office space, a mill shop and lighting and grip facilities.
• EUE/Screen Gems chose Atlanta for their business expansion because:
  • Atlanta needs a well-equipped, turnkey facility for large-scale film and television projects.
  • National entertainment companies have come to EUE/Screen Gems management in recent months and asked them to consider development of this type of property in Atlanta.
  • Atlanta offers a distinctive urban setting that EUE/Screen Gems does not have in its current portfolio. The ethnic and cultural diversity of Atlanta’s talent base and crew further expands the studios’ portfolio of options for film and television producers and directors.
  • The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport offers multiple non-stop flights to and from New York City and Los Angeles.
  • Georgia offers a state film credit up to 30 percent, along with sales and use tax exemption. http://www.georgia.org/GeorgiaIndustries/Entertainment/AboutUs/Pages/Incentives.aspx
• EUE/Screen Gems has an exceptional track record of investing in studio sites and attracting productions. Their Wilmington, N.C. location has been home to more than 350 productions, including the television series “One Tree Hill,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “Matlock.” Two new HBO comedies, “Eastbound & Down” and “Little Britain USA” were also produced there. Film releases include “Nights in Rodanthe” and “The Secret Life of Bees.” The company has just invested in updating wireless and coast-to-coast remote capabilities on its lot in Wilmington. The Wilmington property is also home to a new $15 million special effects water tank and sound stage. In New York City, their facility provides high-end production, post-production services and “wired” production offices to CBS’s Rachael Ray Show. New York clients include Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Food Network and others.
• EUE/Screen Gems operated the world-renowned studio “back lot” in Burbank, California for more than 10 years. EUE/Screen Gem’s global reach extended through Europe in Dublin, Ireland with Ardmore Studios. The company also had affiliations in Prague, Australia and Argentina.

• EUE/Screen Gems is fielding booking requests now. Contact Chris Cooney at ccooney@euescreengems.com, 212-450-1600.
• This opportunity in Georgia allows the company to continue expansion of its studio space and to provide film and television producers and directors a distinctive portfolio of film production facilities.
• Contacts:

Susan Dosier, Media Relations for EUE/Screen Gems

sdosier@lkmideas.com, 704-953-9408 mobile

Sharon Cooney Shuttleworth, Vice President/Director of Corporate Communications of EUE/Screen Gems
cooneyworth@yahoo.com, 561-586-4513 office, 561-602-5182 mobile

Chris Cooney, President and COO of EUE/Screen Gems

ccooney@euescreengems.com, 212-450-1600

John Lavelle, Director of Real Estate Portfolio, Atlanta Mayor’s Office

jlavelle@atlantaga.gov, 404-865-8620 office, 404-290-4866 mobile

About EUE/Screen Gems: EUE/Screen Gems supplies production space, studios, technological infrastructure and support for film, television and commercial producers. It is a diversified content production studio and facilities provider based in New York City with a 50-acre studio lot in Wilmington, N.C. www.euescreengems.com and www.screengemsstudios.com

For employment opportunities send resumes to careers@euescreengems.com

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EUE/Screen Gems Opens Studios in Atlanta

EUE/Screen Gems rolls into Atlanta to entice film, television and digital production companies to incentive-friendly Georgia.

IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

ATLANTA, June 8, 2010 – EUE/Screen Gems has opened a studio complex in the former Lakewood Fairgrounds site near midtown Atlanta. The new studio targets film, television and digital production communities and commercial agencies in the United States and other countries as potential clients. According to the lease agreement with the City of Atlanta, EUE/Screen Gems can book films and television series in an existing soundstage now. One nationally recognized entertainment brand is currently shooting a film at the facility.

EUE/Screen Gems is undertaking a multi-million dollar phased renovation for the property and is updating five other buildings. They will start construction on a new 37,500-foot sound stage that will be ready in March 2011. Plans include the development of office space, a mill shop and lighting and grip facilities. The Lakewood site has a film history. It was home to “Smokey and the Bandit” the 1977 film that inspired other trucking films and its own sequels.

This investment represents another bold move for the bullish studio provider who currently houses the “Rachael Ray” show in New York City and offers a 50-acre studio complex in Wilmington, N.C.

“Producers, directors and studios came to us and asked us to go into Atlanta. We were humbled by that vote of confidence, and we feel strongly about how this investment further extends our offerings,” says Chris Cooney, chief operating officer and co-owner of EUE/Screen Gems. “Through our properties in New York City, Wilmington and now Atlanta, we provide coastal, rural and urban settings to our clients as well as size and infrastructure needed to handle intensive special effects for film, commercial and gaming needs. This urban location expands our portfolio in a powerful way.”

Cooney says the company was also drawn to the attractive 30 percent tax credit to qualified production and post-production expenditures. The credit is available not only to traditional motion picture projects such as feature films, television series, commercials and music videos, but also innovative new industries such as game development and animation. In addition to the incentive, the city’s ethnic and cultural diversity in the talent base was a draw as well as the close proximity to the airport and the number of direct flights to Los Angeles and New York.

Bill Thompson, Deputy Commissioner of the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office welcomes the arrival of EUE/Screen Gems. “The agreement between EUE/Screen Gems and the City of Atlanta could not have come at a better time,” said Thompson. “Having a high-profile soundstage in the metro area will only add to the many assets Georgia offers for the film industry. We are building this industry in Georgia, and EUE/Screen Gems locating here helps us achieve that goal. The new facility will create more jobs for Georgians and increase our competitiveness as a state for film and television productions.”

For more on the Georgia incentive and the sales and use tax exemption, visit http://www.georgia.org/GeorgiaIndustries/Entertainment/AboutUs/Pages/Incentives.aspx

The expansion into the Lakewood community was widely heralded in the Atlanta press as a source of jobs in a growing, vibrant industry.

ABOUT EUE/SCREEN GEMS EUE/Screen Gems supplies production space, studios, technological infrastructure and support for movie, film and commercial producers. Its Wilmington, N.C. studio campus has been home to more than 350 productions, including the recently renewed television series “One Tree Hill.” Other titles include “Dawson’s Creek” and “Matlock” and the HBO comedies “Eastbound & Down” and “Little Britain USA.” Recent films that have called Wilmington home include “Nights in Rodanthe” and “The Secret Life of Bees.”

The company has just invested in updating wireless and coast-to-coast remote capabilities on its lot in Wilmington. The Wilmington property is also home to Stage 10, a $15 million special effects water tank and sound stage. The EUE/Screen Gems New York City facility provides high-end production, post-production services and “wired” production offices to CBS’s “Rachael Ray” show. New York clients include Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Food Network and others. The company also owns a lighting and grip company in Charleston, S.C. www.euescreengems.com and www.screengemsstudios.com

CONTACTS:

Susan Dosier, media relations for EUE/Screen Gems?sdosier@lkmideas.com

(704) 953.9408 mobile

Kristin Michael, media relations for EUE/Screen Gems?kmichael@lkmideas.com

(704) 591.0049 mobile

For employment opportunities send resumes to careers@euescreengems.com

The CW ordered another season of One Tree Hill along with Life Unexpected. No official word on what kind of episode orders OTH and Life Unexpected have received, but we’re hearing they’ll spilt the season down the middle with 13 each.

Read more

From Hollywood Reporter

In her first regular series gig, Oscar winner Sissy Spacek has been tapped as the lead on the John Wells-produced medical drama pilot on CBS.

The Warner Bros. TV-produced project, written by Hannah Shakespeare and to be directed by Christopher Chulack, centers on a mobile team of volunteer doctors led by a driven visionary (Spacek) that travels the world and the U.S. helping those in need.

Deeply committed to her work, Spacek’s character, originally envisioned as a man, works around the clock, and expects her team to do likewise. Complicating things is her own cancer diagnosis, which requires agonizing chemo treatments at regular intervals, as well as her physician daughter’s (Rachelle Lefevre) decision to join the team.

This is the second major drama pilot this season whose lead character’s gender was switched to male to female for an Oscar-winning actress.

The curmudgeonly lawyer at the center of David E. Kelley’s “Kindreds,” also from WBTV, was conceived as a man, Harry Korn, but became Harriet when Bates came on board.

The name of the lead character on the CBS medical drama pilot will similarly be changed from Adrian to Adrianne for Spacek.

Spacek, repped by Innovative and Benderspink, is coming off a strong arc on HBO’s drama “Big Love.”