Pinewood Studios – the famous home of Britain’s James Bond – is expanding from the leafy London suburb of Shepperton to the bright, expansive lands south of Atlanta in Fayette County, Georgia. Pinewood Atlanta will provide world-class studio facilities for the production of film, television, music and video games.

Ivan Dunleavy, Pinewood CEO, said: “Today’s agreement is another step forward for the Pinewood brand internationally. This new studio will target US productions. Georgia has excellent fiscal incentives and a great crew base. With River’s Rock we have a well resourced partner that is committed to building a first class studio facility.” Georgia is fast becoming a hot spot for film production due to tax breaks that have recently emerged. The state provides a 20% tax credit for companies that spend $500,000 or more on a production; what’s more, film producers also can receive an additional 10% if the project helps promote the state of Georgia. We’re not sure how The Walking Dead – also filmed and set in Georgia – promotes the state, but that’s just one of the successful shows flourishing in Empire State of the South.

James BondJames Bond was filmed at Pinewood - but they didn't use waxy people

Jim Pace, Managing Partner, River’s Rock llc said: “We are tremendously excited to be creating a world class studio in the state of Georgia and are looking forward to working with Pinewood in the many years to come. The Pinewood brand is so well recognized in the global film industry and together there is a great opportunity to build an excellent facility that will attract the very best producers.”