Hill Country Studios and 204 Texas would bring a combined 20 sound stages to Central Texas.
Austin has been growing in the past few years, and along with that growth comes the boom of the film industry. Two new film studio projects are hoping to break ground in Central Texas in the coming months.
204 Texas, described as a “revolutionary fusion of Hollywood’s innovation and Texas’s grandeur,” is set to bring eight new studios on almost 600 acres on land in Bastrop.
KVUE caught up with Alton Butler, the founder of Line 204, a California-based production company, and the visionary for this massive project in Bastrop. He said in the group’s economic impact study, they found this project would bring $1.3 billion in 10 years – but he thinks even that is an understatement.
“We’re talking about a $1.3 billion economic impact around this industry and around this community, so that’s a big thing,” Butler said.
Line 204 started almost 30 years ago when Alabama native Butler moved to Hollywood. He created a specialty film and event rental company that is now dipping its toes into the Texas film industry.
“We’ve got deals with trucking companies, décor, wardrobe. All these guys have already signed on to be a part of the project, so we’re bringing in that self-sustained industry immediately,” Butler said.
Recently, the project has run into some hold-ups with the city, but Butler said with plans completely ready to go, construction could start in as early as two weeks. The first phase of the project that would build out the eight studios would cost around $50 million and is estimated to be completed in late 2025.
Further south, Hill Country Studios in San Marcos is also hoping to break ground this year. On its 200-acre property, the studio would create 800,000 square feet of production space and 12 sound stages. The chief marketing officer estimates construction could start this summer.
“We’re hoping this kind of fosters, that we kind of help be one of the initial sparks to really explode the film and TV and creative arts industry throughout the state of Texas,” Jacob Cowan said.
Both projects hope to open up a whole new world for the film industry in the Lone Star State.
