Medient CEO Jake Shapiro presented a pared-down version of a master plan for film studios in Effingham County to a committee of the Industrial Development Authority on Tuesday, with a goal of finishing the first building by the end of this year.
The conceptual plan calls for the facilities to be built close to Old River Road, with a 40,000-square-foot production building to be constructed first, including conference rooms, editing suites and a cafeteria that would support 200 “very high-quality jobs,” Shapiro said.
Next would come two 20,000-square-foot stages, the first of which should be done by the end of the first quarter of 2015, he said.
Those initial buildings and infrastructure would be a $15 million to $25 million investment, Shapiro said.
He had no specifics about possible financing for the first phase, saying an announcement would be made when the time is “appropriate.”
Later phases include two hotels, a lake, baseball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts and a 20,000-seat amphitheater.
Charles Hinely, a member of the IDA’s Medient committee, seemed skeptical that any building could be finished by the end of the year, considering that the project first must go through the state’s review process for a development of regional impact (DRI).
“I don’t think you’re going to make it,” Hinely said.
Shapiro said new numbers for job creation, financial projections and net investment would come later. The IDA board will have to approve the revised master plan, a new development schedule and an amended memorandum of understanding with new job creation figures.
“The whole purpose of the company is not to create jobs for the sake of creating jobs, but to really fill a very profitable and very successful company that therefore generates additional growth and job creation,” Shapiro said.
Zoning Administrator George Shaw said the county could work on plan review for the project while the state is reviewing the DRI documents. He said no zoning would have to be changed since the housing element has been removed from the project.
“Expediting is the issue, trying to push these things as hard as we can to try to make your goal of construction at the end of the year,” IDA Board Chairman Dennis Webb said. “Given the DRI difficulties, it’s got to really roll.”
The Medient IDA committee agreed to meet weekly while work on the project continues.
The company recently went through a hostile takeover, with Shapiro replacing founder Manu Kumaran. Litigation over the change continues in Nevada, where the company is incorporated, and a shareholder lawsuit continues in Effingham County.
The company’s stock, listed as MDNT, was trading over the counter at 0.0004 per share Tuesday. The all-time high for the stock was $2.33 on July 9, 2013.