A new 47-acre media complex called Music City Studios is set to open in 2023 just outside of Nashville, Tenn., in nearby Hendersonville.
The complex will include 200,000 square feet of soundstage space, as well as 500,000 square feet for tenants in film, live music, broadcast and media production industries. A tour rehearsal space aims to re-create an arena floor and ceiling height, with rigging capability on property, allowing arena acts to mimic their full-scale production in one location.
Construction on Music City Studios will begin this month and is expected to be completed near the first quarter of 2023, with the soundstage space opening near the end of 2022.
Monolith Studios, a full-service virtual production and content creation studio specializing in LED volume architecture and content-to-display systems and services, will be the anchor tenant of Music City Studios as well as a partner. Monolith offers solutions for virtual production stage architecture, design, buildout and LED stage control for film, television, brand advertising and live events.
Music City Studios, with capital investment of more than $100 million, is fully funded and the planned complex is more than 60% pre-leased, according to the announcement, though representatives declined to name other tenants.
Principals in Music City Studios include Monolith Studios CEO Josh Furlow, Tortuga Music Festival and Afropunk Music Festival producer David Buttrey, and Brett Danahy. Buttrey, a native Nashvillian, will lead the Music City Studios campus. David Bennett, former executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, will serve as vp of business development for Monolith Studios, Inc. Bennett most recently served as director of business development of broadcast, film & television at PRG.
Furlow said in a statement, “Monolith is expanding its footprint around the world and Tennessee is a critical creative hub for our business. For a city and region that has been built on the entertainment industry, we look forward to creating the 21st century digital campus to help support live entertainment merging with the digital future.”
Buttrey says his involvement in the project stems from what he saw as a lack of opportunities in the local film and touring industries early in his career.
“I don’t ever want another young person to feel like they can’t build a life and career here in Nashville,” Buttrey said in a statement. “With this new campus, no Nashville-based artist or crew member will ever have to leave the metro area to rehearse for a global concert tour, produce a movie, or film a commercial. I used to have to travel to Los Angeles, New York, and overseas for global-level production work. The goal of Music City Studios is to act as a platform and catalyst for more world-class production coming to and being created out of Nashville.”
Bennett added, “The creative arts in film, television and music have never been more closely related than they are now. It is time for a dynamic community focused on multiple disciplines and cutting-edge technology to be established. I am excited and honored to be a part of the team bringing Music City Studios and virtual production industry leader Monolith Studios to Tennessee.”
Music City Studios is the latest entertainment-related complex announced for the Nashville area. In July, it was announced that downtown Nashville will soon be home to the 18-acre Nashville Yards development, backed by live events promotion giant AEG together with Southwest Value Partners. The entertainment district will be anchored by a 4,000-capacity live music venue, and will offer an eight-screen cinema, several food and shopping outlets and 275,000 square feet of creative office space.
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