NEWS BRIEF: Athens wants a piece of Georgia’s movie action

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Tuesday for a new 350,000 square foot film studio to be located halfway between downtown Athens and Winterville. The 45-acre lot in an industrial area off Athena Drive will have sound stages, support buildings, offices and educational facilities. The first construction phase for Athena Studios is scheduled to be finished by late 2022, and the whole project will be completed within two years. “Watching such tremendous growth in the film industry over the past eight years has been great, but we haven’t really seen entire productions filmed in Athens,” said Joel Harber, president of development firm Reynolds Capital. “Not having a proper sound stage space has really kept our area from reaching its full potential.” He added that “hundreds” of jobs will be created at the studio complex. flagpole.com