WOOD RIVER, Ill.—Hollywood River Studios broke ground this week on a new film and television production campus here that will offer six large modular soundstages from global purpose-built modular structure specialist Spantech International.
Located about 15.5 miles north of St. Louis, the campus will give the U.S. market a permanent studio infrastructure capable of hosting major film, TV and streaming productions.
The project reflects a developing trend in the industry. As production incentives grow outside traditional locations, such as Los Angeles, London and Atlanta, new regions are building their own studio capacity.
Hollywood River Studios is built on a simple premise: productions follow infrastructure. The 45-hectare (110-acre) Wood River campus will combine six soundstages totaling about 144,000 square feet (13,400 square meters) of production space with production offices, warehousing, more than 1,000 parking spaces and a planned esports arena.
A second site—a 55,000 square foot (5,100 square meter) facility at America's Central Port in nearby Granite City, Ill., will serve as an equipment warehouse and base camp. Its position on the Mississippi River lets productions work across both Illinois and Missouri, and in some cases draw on both states' film incentives.
"Producers need two things before they commit to a region: the right incentives and the right stages," said Christopher Breakwell, founder and CEO of Hollywood River Studios. "Illinois has the first. Spantech's modular soundstages let us deliver the second at the speed this industry moves."
Spantech will deliver the soundstages using its Grand I-Novation system, a patented foldable steel truss structure. Each stage offers a column-free interior of roughly 130 x 160 feet (40 × 50 meter) and 42 feet (13 meters) high, giving crews the open floor and overhead clearance large sets, rigging and lighting require. The company expects stages to be ready in about 12 months.
The campus also benefits from Illinois' film incentives. In 2025 the state raised its film tax credit to 35% of qualifying in-state labor and vendor spending, with an extra 5% for productions filming outside the Chicago metropolitan area.
Hollywood River Studios projects that the campus could support more than 1,000 permanent jobs, with individual productions employing 300 to 500 people each and creating recurring business for local crews, suppliers, hotels and restaurants across the greater St. Louis region.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was on hand for the groundbreaking.
More information is available on the Spantech International and Hollywood River Studios websites.
