Making movies in Park City.

These words are typically heard in certain parts of California. But soon, these words will be resounding in Park City.

Attorney Greg Erickson partnered with Raleigh Enterprises and Raleigh Motion Picture Studios, the largest independent studio operator in the world, to bring state-of-the-art movie studio production to Park City, to be housed on a recently annexed parcel on the corner of Highway 248 and Highway 40.
Utah Mountain Life

With incentives, Erickson notes, “Utah has done a really good job in bringing in movie and the motion picture industry. Now we’ll capitalize on that and bring in a motion picture studio.” As the longest continuously operating studio in the country, Raleigh Studios has played a significant and defining role in creating the modern motion picture industry. With its highest levels of studio service and most advanced production technology, Raleigh Studios will bring their thriving business model to Park City. Raleigh Studios will also bring in a new year-round industry with a variety of jobs which will have an enormous impact on the economics of Park City. From construction to script supervision, this project will create a wide range of job opportunities. Raleigh Enterprises provides production support on the Raleigh Studio campuses with several production-related companies including Hollywood Rentals, Olesen Theatrical Lighting, and The Expendable Supply Store. These are also expected to be part of Raleigh’s Park City operations. Raleigh manages nearly 2.5 million square feet of sound stage, offices, and support space worldwide in the United States, Europe and Asia and operates studios in Hollywood, Manhattan Beach and Playa Vista in California, and in Baton Rouge and Atlanta.

As the studio responsible for Avatar, Twilight, Transformers, and the Marvel Comic movies, building a facility in Park City ensures that Raleigh will remain impervious to shifts in global film production. Securing the Park City studio location provided a “critical mass” for Raleigh. With this facility, the company can take advantage of shifting economic incentives and capitalize on filmmaker preferences for production locations.
And Park City’s location offers so much to filmmakers. Obviously, the mountain lifestyle and the exquisite scenery in and around Park City make the area desirable for production. Utah’s gorgeous deserts and mountains have appealed to filmmakers for decades. Park City is also close to the film industry’s epicenter: it is only an hour and fifteen minutes by plane from Los Angeles. Many locals regularly commute to and from California to work in the industry. There is also, of course, Park City’s annual hosting of the Sundance Film Festival.

While the architectural plans for the complex are in development, the conceptual site plan has been approved by the Park City Council. The studio complex will include a hotel, sound stages, a recording studio, a grand ballroom, production support offices, and an entertainment venue. Portions of the studios will be accessible to the public. Along with its California studios, Raleigh also owns the fabulous Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood. Like the Sunset Marquis, Raleigh’s new Park City hotel will provide a sanctuary for Hollywood’s A-list. Inside the Sunset Marquis is the NightBird Studio. Filled with state-of-the-art equipment, the NightBird caters to the greatest songwriters, producers, musicians, and composers in the industry. The facility in Park City will also have a recording studio.

Park City is already renowned in the film industry because of the Sundance Film Festival, and its hosting of the Festival each January is a “second industry” for the town. As Mr. Erickson notes, “Park City has already branded itself as a mecca for film festivals, expanding to a movie studio is natural.”

With gracious professionalism, Mr. Erickson reached out to the Park City community and the surrounding county to rally support for this unique and exciting project to ensure its success.

With construction slated to begin soon, Raleigh and Mr. Erickson expect to have the studios and other facilities opened by January 2014.

 

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