LONDON/ATLANTA, April 29 (Reuters) - British film studioPinewood Shepperton, home of the James Bond movies,plans to build its first movie, television and music studio inthe United States, part of an international expansion strategylaunched in 2009.
The owner of Europe's largest film studio, Pinewood said onMonday it would develop 288 acres of land south of Atlanta,Georgia, for a studio facility in a joint venture with River'sRock LLC, an independently managed trust of the Cathy family.
The Cathy family owns the Atlanta-based fried chicken chainChick-fil-A. It is believed to be their first significant mediainvestment, but no one from Chick-fil-A was available forcomment.
Atlanta-area lawyer Douglas Warner, attorney for River'sRock, declined to comment.
Attracting Pinewood is the latest victory for Georgia as itbuilds itself into a major U.S. production destination. Figuresshows that 333 productions were shot in the state last year,boosting public coffers by $3.1 billion, with recent filmsincluding "Flight", "X-Men: First Class", and "Fast Five".
Filmmaker and television producer Tyler Perry has a studioin Atlanta, and the popular zombie-themed AMC cable networkseries "The Walking Dead" is filmed in the southern U.S. state.
Pinewood already owns studios in Canada and Germany and isbuilding facilities in Malaysia and the Dominican Republic. Earlier this month the studio signed a joint venture withChinese media group Seven Stars, run by media entrepreneur BrunoWu, to expand its production services into China.
"Georgia has excellent fiscal incentives and a great crewbase," Pinewood CEO Ivan Dunleavy said in a statement. "WithRiver's Rock we have a well-resourced partner that is committedto building a first-class studio facility."
Producers can qualify for state income tax credits of up to30 percent for certain production expenses, according to theGeorgia film office.
Under the deal, the land and studio construction costs willbe funded by equity from River's Rock and a debt facility fromSynovus Bank, with building to begin immediately.
Pinewood will provide the sales and marketing services andown 40 percent of the joint venture that will operate under thePinewood trademark and be called Pinewood Atlanta.
The Pinewood studio, based outside of London, has beendubbed the home of James Bond with most of the 23 filmsfeaturing British spy 007 shot there over the past half century,including last year's box office hit "Skyfall".
Recent films shot at Pinewood include "Jack Ryan" starringKevin Costner and Chris Pine, and Angelina Jolie's new film"Maleficent". Whether Pinewood might shoot future James Bondfilms in Georgia was not known.
