$62M metro-east studio could be filming TV shows by summer 2027

A $62 million movie and television studio under development in Wood River will aim to bring competitive production to the St. Louis region by next year.

Named Hollywood River Studios for the town where it’s located, the Metro East complex is already under construction and will consist of up to six studios, totaling 140,000-square feet when complete.

Developer Chris Breakwell said the St. Louis region has missed out on filmmaking with television shows like HBO’s DTF St. Louis and Netflix’s Ozark both being filmed in and around Atlanta.

“I want to get that stuff filmed in Missouri and Illinois and help change the image of the city,” Breakwell said.

Breakwell, a former St. Louis banker, currently runs a studio in his native Pittsburgh called 31st Street Studios. That studio has worked on projects like Netflix’s Mindhunter, The Fault in Our Stars and The Dark Knight Rises.

Folks in Los Angeles were skeptical of the Rust Belt city but Pennsylvania’s tax credit program helped rejuvenate the state’s film industry, Breakwell said.

“We’ve done 40 to 50 different movies and TV shows,” Breakwell said. “I expect the same thing to happen to St Louis. It’s just beautiful architecture and beautiful buildings to shoot locations at.”

Breakwell believes the region will be competitive because film producers can take advantage of Illinois’ Film Production Tax Credit, which allows movie or television makers a 35% tax credit that’s uncapped for productions filmed in the state.

The recently expanded credit program that expires in 2039 led Illinois to break its own records for film spending last year at $703 million, according to Gov. JB Pritzker’s Office. While Chicago has received much of the attention, Breakwell believes that means there’s an untapped market in southern Illinois.

“It really moves it to the top of the food chain in the country,” Breakwell said of Illinois’ tax credits.

Missouri offers a tax credit that starts at 20%, but it’s capped at $8 million per year for television or movies. Projects filmed at Hollywood River Studios could take advantage of both programs, Breakwell said.

Hollywood River presents a new entry into the entertainment industry for St. Louis, said Kelley Hiatt, manager of the St. Louis Film Office.

While Gateway Studios and Production Services in Chesterfield just came online last year, it’s more focused on music production, and the Wood River studio could help the region attract more episodic television shows, like Dick Wolf’s series set in Chicago, Hiatt said.

“They’re separate but equal,” Hiatt said of the two studios. “They work together. I don’t necessarily think they’re competition.”

Television shows or movies will be able to do most of their studio work in the Metro East and also shoot on location in St. Louis, Hiatt said.

“That is the most exciting thing to me,” Hiatt said.

For the studios, Breakwell purchased 105 acres of a business park in Wood River earlier this year that sits just west of Illinois Route 3 and the city’s downtown.

When completed, it’s estimated the studios will employ 300 to 500, Breakwell said.

“It gets a lot of attention, and that, in itself, helps the city attract other businesses,” he said.

Under the agreement with Wood River, Breakwell paid the city $1 million for the property, and the city will return $100,000 for each building that’s completed.

Hollywood River Studios will consist of four 21,000-square foot studios that will mostly be utilized for television shows, one 40,000-square foot space for movies and one 10,000-square foot for esports.

The city also created a tax increment financing district that will allow Breakwell to use any additional property tax revenues generated to help pay for the project. Wood River will receive 10% of the additional revenue and Breakwell will get the remaining 90% and up to $50 million for the 16 year life of the district, according to the Alton Telegraph.

Work to clear the property began earlier this spring after some minor delays.

The first phase of the project, which consists of creating four TV studios and esports space, should be finished by next summer. The second phase with a bigger movie studio will start after and could be open in 2028, Breakwell said.

If successful, Breakwell said he could roughly double the size of the campus, which would bring the total cost to $95 million.

Hollywood River Studios will also rent a 50,000 square foot building in Granite City owned by America’s Central Port that it will use as a base camp, where the studios will store equipment and trucks for location shots across the Mississippi River.

“I’d like to see the same thing happen to St. Louis that happened to Pittsburgh,” Breakwell said. “I think it just changes the overall image of the city. It brings jobs. To me, it’s something to create a legacy of.”