Major Movie Studio Coming to South DeKalb

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — Valhalla Film Studios is building a 53-acre studio south of East Atlanta Village in DeKalb County.

The studio expects to be up and running in January, according to Cross Roads News.

Construction continues at 1415 Constitution Road, where the studio is investing more than $70 million into nine sound stages totaling 206,000 square feet.

Valhalla executives James Schulz and Ryan Millsap are connected to movies such as “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Interstellar.”

The property is a former Duron Paints & Wallcoverings warehouse. The studio bought the land for $6.7 million.

Also under construction is s 40,000-square-foot office building.

Georgia's film and TV industry generated more than $7 billion for the state's economy in fiscal 2016, according to Gov. Nathan Deal.

The 245 feature film and television productions shot in Georgia represent $2.02 billion in direct spending in the state.

Georgia's film industry made a lot of headlines earlier this year during the raging debate over HB 757, the controversial religious liberty/anti-gay bill that was approved by the Georgia General Assembly and would have allowed faith-based groups to refuse services or terminate employees based on sexual orientation.

The governor vetoed the bill in the face of massive opposition, including the Hollywood film industry which repeatedly threatened to pull out of Georgia should Deal sign the bill. AMC joined an entertainment-industry chorus calling for Deal to veto the proposal. Disney and its Marvel Studios also said they would stop filming movies in Georgia if Deal signed the bill.

In 2015, Deal created the Georgia Film Academy, a collaborative effort between the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia to fast track students into the film and television workforce. Since its opening, the program has been adopted at eight Georgia campuses. By the end of the year, 610 students are projected to have completed course one, and 274 students will complete on-set production internships and receive certification.

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