A rendering of the planned TGE Global Entertainment movie studio in Fort Smith.
A Los Angeles entertainment company plans to build a 45,000-SF film studio in Chaffee Crossing.
The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority agreed to sell approximately 20 acres of land along Mahogany Avenue to TGE Global Entertainment Inc. The price for two tracts is $899,000; the property is under contract and no dates for groundbreaking or construction has been set.
TGE had announced in November its plan to make a movie about deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves and film most of it in the Fort Smith area. The $30 million complex, which will total 92,000 SF with the studio, will be called TGE Spark Studios and will include six sound stages, screening and editing rooms and office spaces.
“A film studio is a wonderful trigger to develop a creative ecosystem in our region,” said FCRA CEO Daniel Mann. “The name Spark Studio encapsulates the energy and even greater momentum we anticipate following this announcement.”
TGE said the studio will create as many as 150 jobs. The company said the studio could create $32 million in economic activity annual for the Fort Smith area.
“The numbers are purposefully conservative as we are awaiting final projections, but that’s the preliminary estimate we’ve been operating from,” TGE CFO J. Michael Smith said. “The economic purpose for a studio like Spark Studios is not just to house our projects, but projects from other production companies with a desire to film in Arkansas. And obviously we believe there are plenty of reasons to film in the Arkansas and Oklahoma region.”
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