At the monthly board meeting of the Effingham County Industrial Development Board last Thursday, newly appointed Medient Studios CEO, Jake Shapiro, reported on the changes and progress that have taken place at Medient since his appointment just a few weeks ago. As we reported on Friday, Medient discussed the recent changes in the corporate structure of the firm. Medient also updated the Board on construction of Studioplex.  

“My first instructions as CEO of Medient Studios was to pay off all outstanding invoices for every vendor associated with the Studioplex’s construction in full,” said Shapiro. “Many vendors had never been paid a penny at that point. This action led to a series of events that are taking place right now and moving the project forward with real, verifiable momentum.”

The Company has completely restructured the master plan and the situating of the new sound stages, office buildings and public spaces. The surveys of the new construction site areas have been completed, according to Shapiro. “These changes were done to minimize the cost and maximize the efficiencies, which decreases the amount of time it will take to get the new studioplex to its grand opening,” he said. Shapiro said the tree-removal companies have finished their timbering work, and all the wetlands crossing permitted by the Army Corps of Engineers have been constructed and now await final inspection. The entire location of the former site, which encompassed the back half of the property has now been relocated forward to the studioplex’s entrance, coming in from Old River Road. “By doing this, we estimate the reduction in construction costs to be equal to or greater than 70 percent,” Shapiro said.

The engineers selected for this project are the highly-respected firm of Hussey, Gay, Bell and De Young. The design phase is being headed up by Megan Murphy, vice president of operations at Medient, who led the search for what Shapiro described as “…the best of the best in studio design firms.”  selecting Bill Foley of the Atlanta-based Foley Design Associates. Foley has worked globally on studio projects including Pinewood Studios in Fayetteville, Ga., and has done numerous non-studio projects in the Savannah area as well.

A completely new master plan and agreement between the IDA and Medient is expected to come before the IDA board in about two weeks.