Atlanta Film Production Districts: The Complete Filmmaker’s Map of Every Studio Zone from Doraville to Fayetteville and Beyond
Metro Atlanta doesn’t have a single production hub. It has an entire constellation of them. From the converted General Motors plant in Doraville to the purpose-built campus anchoring Fayetteville, Atlanta’s film production districts now stretch across five counties and multiple corridors, each with a distinct personality, infrastructure profile, and competitive advantage.
If you’re scouting soundstage space, trying to lock crew near a specific location, or weighing the logistics of a six-month episodic run versus a four-week commercial shoot, the district you choose will shape your budget, your timeline, and your daily commute. This guide breaks down every major Atlanta film production district so you can make that choice with real information instead of word-of-mouth.
The Northern Arc — Doraville, Norcross, and Gwinnett County
Assembly Studios (Doraville)
Assembly Studios sits on 135 acres that once housed a General Motors assembly plant, and the scale of the original facility is exactly what makes the property so compelling for large-format production. Backed by Gray Television’s investment, the campus features a 300-foot water set that has already attracted productions requiring controlled aquatic environments—something few facilities east of Los Angeles can offer at this scale. Third Rail Studios operates on adjacent acreage, giving the Doraville corridor multiple booking options within walking distance.
The location puts productions inside the I-285 perimeter with direct access to I-85 northbound, which matters when talent and crew are commuting from Buckhead, Midtown, or the northern suburbs.
Eagle Rock Studios (Norcross)
Eagle Rock Studios has become Gwinnett County’s anchor production facility, currently operating at roughly 75 percent capacity with episodic television dominating its stage bookings. For producers who need reliable, mid-size soundstage space without competing for availability at the larger campuses further south, Eagle Rock offers a practical alternative with shorter lead times on booking.
OFS Studios and the Georgia Film Academy’s Northern Hub
Also in Norcross, OFS Studios serves as a training facility connected to the Georgia Film Academy. This matters for production logistics because it feeds a steady pipeline of entry-level crew into the northern metro area. When you’re staffing up for a shoot in Gwinnett County, proximity to this training hub shortens your search for production assistants, set dressers, and other below-the-line roles.
The Labor Pool: Gwinnett’s Multilingual Crew Capacity
Gwinnett County is one of the most demographically diverse counties in the southeastern United States. For productions that need multilingual crew members, cultural consultants, or background talent reflecting a wide range of ethnicities, the northern arc provides a labor pool that’s harder to assemble in other Atlanta film production districts. International productions shooting English-language content with multilingual support often find this corridor especially practical.
The Urban Core — Atlanta Proper, West End, and Midtown
Tyler Perry Studios (Former Fort McPherson)
Tyler Perry Studios occupies 330 acres on the former Fort McPherson military base in southwest Atlanta, making it one of the largest production facilities in the country by sheer acreage. The campus includes 12 soundstages, a backlot with standing sets that replicate streetscapes and building interiors, and the kind of self-contained infrastructure that allows tentpole productions to operate without leaving the property for weeks at a time. It’s a vertically integrated operation, and availability is tightly controlled.
West End Production Park
Just north of Tyler Perry’s campus, West End Production Park has hosted notable productions including Ozark, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Die Hart. The facility offers flexible stage configurations and sits within a neighborhood that’s experiencing significant commercial revitalization—meaning your crew has access to restaurants, coffee shops, and services that didn’t exist five years ago.
Independent Studios: PAM Studios, Mann Robinson Studios, Cam Kirk Studios
Atlanta’s urban core also supports a layer of independent studios that serve productions operating outside the tentpole and major episodic pipeline. PAM Studios, a woman-owned facility, caters to commercial and branded content shoots. Mann Robinson Studios handles a range of production types from corporate video to indie film. Cam Kirk Studios, known originally for music and photography, has expanded into video production. Together, these independent spaces fill a critical gap for projects that need professional soundstage access without the overhead or booking complexity of the major campuses.
Location Shooting Advantages in Atlanta Proper
Beyond the soundstages, shooting in central Atlanta offers something the outer corridors can’t easily replicate: an urban skyline, historic neighborhoods like Inman Park and Grant Park, and MARTA transit access that simplifies crew movement across the city. If your script calls for recognizable city environments and you want to minimize company moves between locations, the urban core keeps everything tighter.
The Eastern Corridor — DeKalb County and Covington
Shadowbox Studios (South DeKalb)
Shadowbox Studios brings 850,000 square feet and nine soundstages to the South DeKalb area, with the same ownership group behind Shinfield Studios in the United Kingdom. That transatlantic connection isn’t just a talking point—it signals the kind of capital backing and operational standards that give producers confidence when booking long-term stage commitments. The facility is positioned to capture productions that want DeKalb County’s tax incentive stacking advantages while staying within a 30-minute drive of downtown Atlanta.
Three Ring Studios (Covington)
Cinelease’s Three Ring Studios in Covington has undergone a $144 million expansion that brought the facility to 15 soundstages spread across 90 acres, with an on-site grip and lighting warehouse operated by Cinelease. That last detail matters: having your grip and lighting vendor physically on the lot eliminates a category of logistics headaches that eat into shooting days on every production. For episodic television and features that plan long residencies, the integrated vendor model here is a genuine operational advantage.
Cinelease Studios Conyers
A few miles east, Cinelease Studios in Conyers operates four stages and houses the largest green screen in the Atlanta area. Productions with heavy visual effects work or virtual production requirements find this facility particularly useful as a complement to the practical stages at Three Ring.
Covington’s Dual Identity
Covington itself deserves attention beyond its soundstages. The town has served as a filming location for decades, with a walkable downtown square and residential neighborhoods that convincingly double for small-town America. Productions shooting period pieces, Southern dramas, or anything requiring a backlot-friendly Main Street often discover that Covington’s real streets are more production-ready than most purpose-built sets. The town has leaned into this identity, and local permitting reflects years of experience working with film crews.
The Southern Anchor — Fayetteville and the Trilith Complex
Trilith Studios: The Numbers
Trilith Studios in Fayetteville is the largest purpose-built studio campus outside of Los Angeles, and the numbers justify the comparison. The facility spans more than 700 acres with 32 soundstages totaling over 1.5 million square feet of production space, plus a 400-acre backlot. Marvel Studios has used Trilith as a primary production base, and the scale of the campus means multiple tentpole productions can operate simultaneously without competing for resources.
The Town at Trilith
What truly distinguishes Trilith from every other Atlanta film production district is The Town at Trilith—a 235-acre residential development built directly adjacent to the studio campus. With roughly 300 homes already occupied and room for 450 more, this is a community where film workers live on-site. For productions running six months or longer, the ability to house key crew within walking or biking distance of the stages eliminates one of the biggest quality-of-life complaints in the industry: the commute.
Trilith Live
The forthcoming Trilith Live complex adds a seven-acre entertainment district with live-audience stages, a cinema, and an 1,800-seat auditorium. This positions the campus to attract competition shows, live events, and audience-dependent formats that previously had limited purpose-built options in metro Atlanta.
The Vendor Ecosystem
More than 40 production vendors operate on the Trilith campus, including Technicolor, MBS Equipment Co., SGPS/ShowRig, Herc Rentals, and The Third Floor (known for previsualization). This density of on-site services means a producer at Trilith can source equipment, post-production, rigging, and previsualization without leaving the property. For budget-conscious productions, consolidating vendor relationships on a single campus reduces transportation costs and coordination overhead.
The Western Expansion — Douglas County and Lionsgate
Lionsgate Studios Atlanta
The newest major entry in Atlanta’s studio landscape is Lionsgate Studios Atlanta, a $200 million, 40-acre facility developed by Great Point Studios in Douglas County. With 12 soundstages and approximately 500,000 square feet of production space, the facility represents the first time a major Hollywood studio brand has established a permanent, purpose-built footprint in the Atlanta market.
Douglas County’s position west of Atlanta gives productions an alternative to the increasingly competitive corridors to the south and east, and its proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, roughly 25 minutes, makes it logistically competitive with Trilith for productions that rely on frequent talent travel.
What the Lionsgate Investment Signals
The significance of the Lionsgate commitment extends beyond square footage. When a studio with global distribution commits capital at this level, it validates Atlanta’s position as a long-term production market rather than a tax-incentive-driven stopover. Douglas County is now positioned to develop the kind of ancillary vendor and service infrastructure that follows major studio investment.
Choosing Your District — A Decision Framework for Producers
Comparison at a Glance
District / Studio | Stages | Total Sq Ft | Airport Prox. | Vendor Hub | Housing | Best For |
Trilith (Fayetteville) | 32 | 1.5M+ | 25 min | 40+ vendors | On-site town | Tentpole, franchise |
Assembly (Doraville) | Multiple | 135 acres | 35 min | Growing | Nearby rentals | Large-scale water work |
Tyler Perry (Atlanta) | 12 | 330 acres | 20 min | Internal | Urban housing | Franchise, episodic |
Shadowbox (DeKalb) | 9 | 850K | 30 min | Moderate | Nearby rentals | Mid-budget features |
Three Ring (Covington) | 15 | 90 acres | 50 min | On-site grip/lighting | Limited | Episodic, period pieces |
Lionsgate (Douglas Co.) | 12 | 500K | 25 min | Developing | Suburban | Studio features, series |
Eagle Rock (Norcross) | Several | Mid-size | 40 min | Moderate | Suburban | Episodic TV |
Matching Production Type to District
Tentpole and franchise productions gravitate toward Trilith and Tyler Perry Studios, where stage count, backlot acreage, and vendor density support the scale and duration these projects demand.
Episodic television benefits from the eastern corridor’s combination of Three Ring’s integrated grip and lighting warehouse, Shadowbox’s long-term stage availability, and Covington’s location-friendly streets. Eagle Rock in Norcross also serves this segment with shorter booking lead times.
Independent features and mid-budget productions often find the best value in the urban core’s independent studios or at Shadowbox, where stage rates and operational overhead tend to be more flexible than at the flagship campuses.
Commercial and branded content shoots frequently land in Atlanta proper, where proximity to agencies, talent pools, and diverse urban locations keeps production timelines tight and company moves short.
Reality and unscripted formats should watch the Trilith Live development closely, as its live-audience infrastructure will open new possibilities for audience-dependent shows in the Atlanta market.
The bottom line: Atlanta’s film production districts are no longer a single story about tax incentives and available stages. They’re a network of specialized corridors, each with distinct infrastructure, vendor ecosystems, and location advantages. The producers who get the best results are the ones who match their production’s specific needs to the district that’s actually built to serve them.
