In the wake of the takeover of Medient Studios and the dismissal of its founder and president, Manu Kumaran, the new leadership of Medient Studios Friday submitted a revised master plan for the studioplex to the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority (IDA). 

The new plan calls for a studioplex design vastly scaled back from the original one presented by Kumaran and his people a year ago. The new plan does not call for onsite residences, futuristic aqua trees, a transparent glass suspension bridge, or any of the surreal amenities in the original plan.

The plan, presented Tuesday morning at a special meeting of the IDA, still presents many impressive design features – features that make infinitely more business sense for a studioplex whose management is intent on being profitable and revolutionizing the filmmaking industry.

New Medient President and CEO, Jake Shapiro using a color map-style graphic of the new concept in all its various phases of construction. While the new plan is much less futuristic than the original, it is by no means blasé. The 1,500 acre site includes about 25 back lots – standard fare in the motion picture production business, but nonetheless impressive. It also includes at least 15 sound stage studios but in two phases.

As with the earlier plan, there are plenty of wetland areas contained within the parcel, something that drawing new maps can’t change. These wetlands will serve as nature preserves for wildlife and water fowl, enhancing the property’s natural bucolic appeal, and several will be bridged to make them more accessible to sightseers and those traveling within the studioplex.

Other notable amenities include two hotels, several office parks, a big box theater, an amphitheater, numerous retail spaces, baseball and tennis facilities, an onsite fire station, plenty of parking areas, storage facilities, ponds and lakes, and even a solar garden.

There wasn’t much in the way of concerns voiced over the new plan at Tuesday’s IDA presentation, according to John Henry, CEO of the IDA. “We will have ongoing conference calls weekly until we have all of the engineering information, development schedule, etc. that we need to approve the plans,” said Henry. There is sure to be more discussion on the plan - or at least the committee’s progress in evaluating the plan – at the August monthly board meeting on Tuesday the 19. However, the earliest opportunity for a vote on the plan would be at the September monthly meeting, according to Henry.