Gamechanger: Film production company chooses Dayton to build headquarters, studios

DAYTON — A film production company says they are going to put their headquarters in Dayton. Those involved with the film industry say this is a game-changer for the local film industry.

1913 Studios said they have already purchased a facility on Springfield Street that exceeds 200,000 square feet.

Lisa Grigsby, Film Commissioner of the Greater Dayton Region, said the studio specializes in smaller films.

>> 2 indicted for arson fire at Dayton Canoe Club

“They know they’ll get a lot of first-time producers and stuff,” Grigsby said.

Some of those first-time producers may come from the motion pictures program at Wright State University. Jeremy Bolden, Motion Picture Production instructor at WSU, told News Center 7′s Candace Price that this relates to what he tells his students.

“We tell our students all the time that you don’t have to be in Los Angeles or New York or Atlanta to work in movies, to make things that are substantial,” Bolden said.

Two of the studio’s founders have roots in Dayton and that is why, Grigsby said, they understand the value.

>> OH-TF1 demobilized, returning home Thursday after days of searches in Western Kentucky

“Things are so affordable here and [the] work ethic of people in the Midwest is amazing,” Grigsby.

Grigsby told News Center 7 that the studio will also have an impact on the local economy.

“They’ll be renting cars. They’ll be buying coffee. They’ll be eating at our local restaurants,” Grigsby said.

The studio, Grigsby said, will also bring more jobs due to the number of people it takes to make a film set run properly.

The current timeline for this studio to open is going to be late 2023.

©2021 Cox Media Group