Home of James Bond films plans studio near Atlanta in Georgia in deal backed by owners of Chick-fil-A fast food chain
Pinewood Shepperton, home of the James Bond films, is to build its first film and TV studio in the US in a deal backed by the owners of the Chick-fil-A fast food chain.
The UK studios business is embarking on a joint venture with River Rock, an independently managed trust run by fast food moguls the Cathy family, which owns the Chick-fil-A chain, to develop land south of the city of Atlanta to tap into fiscal incentives offered to producers by the state of Georgia.
"This new studio will target US productions," said Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive of Pinewood, which will hold a 40% stake in the venture. "Georgia has excellent fiscal incentives and a great crew base. With River's Rock we have a well-resourced partner that is committed to building a first-class studio facility."
The venture, which will be called Pinewood Atlanta, will initially develop 288 acres of land south of Atlanta into what it says will be "world class studio facilities for the production of film, television, music and video games".
The business will operate under the Pinewood name with the studio providing sales and marketing services. Construction is expected to start immediately funded by River Rock, with a debt facility from Synovus Bank.
"The Pinewood brand is so well recognised in the global film industry and together there is a great opportunity to build an excellent facility that will attract the very best producers," said Jim Pace, managing partner at River Rock.
It is thought to be the first major media investment for the Cathy family, who are best known for owning the nationwide fast food chain Chick-fil-A.
Chick-fil-A, founded in the early 1960s, has more than 1,700 restaurants in 39 states with annual sales of more than $4.6bn.
The chain's chief operating officer, Dan Cathy, prompted controversy in the US last summer with comments opposing same sex marriage. It emerged that the Cathy family had also donated money to groups opposing same sex marriage through its WinShape Foundation, which receives most of its money from Chick-fil-A profits.
However, after the row over his comments US gay rights advocacy group The Civil Rights Agenda claimed Chick-fil-A had agreed to stop donating money to such organisations.
Chick-fil-A tried to stay out of the ensuing controversy, repeatedly stating that it is their tradition "to treat every person with honour, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender".
Pinewood said on Monday that the company's financial performance for the year ended 31 March was "in line with management expectations", and that there has been "strong demand" so far heading into the studio's new financial year.
Earlier this month Pinewood struck an alliance with Seven Stars Media, a private company controlled by Chinese entrepreneur Bruno Wu, to break into the Chinese film market.
Pinewood has struck deals to expand it international operations in markets including the Dominican Republic, Berlin, Toronto and Malaysia.
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Pinewood Shepperton, home of the James Bond films, is to build its first film and TV studio in the US in a deal backed by the owners of the Chick-fil-A fast food chain.
The UK studios business is embarking on a joint venture with River Rock, an independently managed trust run by fast food moguls the Cathy family, which owns the Chick-fil-A chain, to develop land south of the city of Atlanta to tap into fiscal incentives offered to producers by the state of Georgia.
"This new studio will target US productions," said Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive of Pinewood, which will hold a 40% stake in the venture. "Georgia has excellent fiscal incentives and a great crew base. With River's Rock we have a well-resourced partner that is committed to building a first-class studio facility."
The venture, which will be called Pinewood Atlanta, will initially develop 288 acres of land south of Atlanta into what it says will be "world class studio facilities for the production of film, television, music and video games".
The business will operate under the Pinewood name with the studio providing sales and marketing services. Construction is expected to start immediately funded by River Rock, with a debt facility from Synovus Bank.
"The Pinewood brand is so well recognised in the global film industry and together there is a great opportunity to build an excellent facility that will attract the very best producers," said Jim Pace, managing partner at River Rock.
It is thought to be the first major media investment for the Cathy family, who are best known for owning the nationwide fast food chain Chick-fil-A.
Chick-fil-A, founded in the early 1960s, has more than 1,700 restaurants in 39 states with annual sales of more than $4.6bn.
The chain's chief operating officer, Dan Cathy, prompted controversy in the US last summer with comments opposing same sex marriage. It emerged that the Cathy family had also donated money to groups opposing same sex marriage through its WinShape Foundation, which receives most of its money from Chick-fil-A profits.
However, after the row over his comments US gay rights advocacy group The Civil Rights Agenda claimed Chick-fil-A had agreed to stop donating money to such organisations.
Chick-fil-A tried to stay out of the ensuing controversy, repeatedly stating that it is their tradition "to treat every person with honour, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender".
Pinewood said on Monday that the company's financial performance for the year ended 31 March was "in line with management expectations", and that there has been "strong demand" so far heading into the studio's new financial year.
Earlier this month Pinewood struck an alliance with Seven Stars Media, a private company controlled by Chinese entrepreneur Bruno Wu, to break into the Chinese film market.
Pinewood has struck deals to expand it international operations in markets including the Dominican Republic, Berlin, Toronto and Malaysia.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook Reported by guardian.co.uk 7 hours ago.