The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) has announced the opening of its new Hollywood backlot at the university’s Savannah Film Studios. This marks the completion of Phase One of the backlot expansion, which is part of a landmark 11-acre, three-phase expansion. This backlot expansion makes it the largest and most comprehensive film studio complex of any university in the country. As part of this expansion, the university has added two new soundstages, as well as production and costume design shops. Additionally, a next-generation LED volume for virtual productions opened next to the backlot in 2021.
“More is more: more films being made, more stories being told, more students creating films under the guidance of the very best professors in higher education,” said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. “Together, the backlot, soundstages, and LED volume form the sought-after trinity of filmmaking opportunities, placing everything at a filmmaker’s fingertips, from outdoor shooting locations to indoor sets to entirely computer-generated worlds. Add our television studio in Hamilton Hall and all models of production are being taught right here in Savannah. If you have a story you want to tell on a screen, big or small, you can tell it at SCAD.”
The first phase of the backlot is designed to resemble Savannah’s historic district. It consists of 17 separate street facades and covers over 4,500 sq. ft. of dressed set space. The facades include various historic Savannah homes, a cafe, a pub, hardware and antique retail space, a boutique, a barber shop, and a general-use lobby for a hotel or hospital with an exterior porte-cochère and automatic doors. Additionally, there is a double-height bank with an interior overlook on the most eastern elevation.
“Georgia is the new Hollywood and Savannah’s film industry is booming,” said SCAD School of Film and Acting Dean Andra Reeve-Rabb. “When we designed the backlot we wanted to give our students access to all the filming locations they either cannot access, like a hospital emergency room, or common filming locations like a coffee shop, without requesting permits or competing for space with the studios who are filming in Savannah. Plus, one of the reasons Savannah is such an attractive filming location is it can easily resemble a quaint European town and be dressed for the 1800s or modern day.”
The Wall Street-style bank in Phase One offers a sneak peek of the New York Financial district, which is part of Phase Two and is set to open in Fall 2024. These New York City facades will include a variety of structures such as Brooklyn brownstones, an urban alley, bodega, upscale retail shops, a chic Manhattan coffeehouse, and a classic subway entrance. Phase Two is also slated to feature a 17,000 sq. ft. support building that will house a costume shop, production wood/machine shop, and classrooms. Furthermore, Phase Three, which is scheduled to open in Fall 2025, will consist of a town square, city hall, single-family home, convenience store, and other facades, as well as a 23,700 sq. ft. support building that will house two sound stages, classrooms, and office space.
The significant expansion at SCAD Savannah Film Studios underscores the substantial investment made by SCAD in the future of its students in the School of Film and Acting, School of Animation and Motion, and School of Creative Technology. Students from top-ranked SCAD programs, spanning from film and television, acting, and production design to visual effects, animation, and immersive reality, are working together and crossing disciplines to utilize the backlot, soundstages, and LED volume to create industry-ready projects.
“Our mission is to prepare talented students for creative professions through engaged teaching and learning in a positively oriented environment,” said Reeve-Rabb. “The expansion of Savannah Film Studios prepares our students to have a seamless transition from SCAD to the professional world, whether that’s in Georgia, California, or New York. We are eager to share these incredible resources with the industry and provide our students and alumni opportunities to work on professional productions using our facilities.”
The backlot concept planning was done with Paul Wonsek and Associates. SCAD Design Group did the final building designs and project implementation. Wonsek was the production designer of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.
