NORCROSS, Ga. — A big movie-making project just reached blockbuster status.
The Los Angeles-based production company behind “Iron Man 2,” “The Avengers” and the next three “Avatar” films has been chosen to manage the Atlanta Media Campus in Norcross. It’s a 114-acre development.
The concept behind what’s happening there is basically Atlantic Station meets a movie sound stage.
“With the scope and the scale of this project, I don’t think there’s a location like this in the country,” explained developer Jim Jacoby.
In 2015, the Atlanta Media Campus located at I-85 and Jimmy Carter Boulevard will also be home to a school and condos, all between the planned seven sound stages.
In true Hollywood style, it all has a façade. Your condo may look more like New York City than Norcross, and it all may end up as a movie backdrop.
“Places where you can’t film like Wall Street or the French Quarter,” Jacoby explained.
More than 2,300 jobs are predicted with the development of Atlanta Media Campus.
“I cannot believe what’s happening here,” said Kathryn Telford.
She has worked as an extra, but breaking in to crew work behind the camera without training has been tricky.
“Most of the big productions want their production assistants to have some kind of experience. And I don’t have it, so it’s kind of a catch-22,” she said.
That’s where a plan for a feeder school comes in, making Atlanta Media Center a place to study, live and shoot movies.