Local entrepreneur, Rodney Dickey is happy to announce the opening of River Oaks Film Studios which will offer over 150,000 sq. ft. and 29’ ft. ceilings for production space to help accommodate Savannah’s growing film industry. Just in time for the Savannah Film Festival, Dickey and his youngest daughter, Allison, came up with the idea for the studio after planning an expansion of his third-party supply chain solutions company, A&A Heritage Solutions, LLC. Allison will return to Georgia after spending several years in California working in various roles within the film industry to help manage the studio and eldest daughter, April, who owns a PR company based in Nashville, Tenn., will act as publicist. The facility sits at 198 Gulfstream Rd., Savannah, Ga. 31408.
“The plan is to build six sound stages, but also provide the flexibility to accommodate the needs of multiple productions as they make plans to film in the Savannah area,” explains River Oaks Film Studios Pres. Rodney Dickey.
“We are excited to add River Oaks Film Studios to Savannah’s inventory of infrastructure for the growing entertainment industry in our region. The creation of this soundstage will bring even more productions to the Savannah area and help us reach the next level,” said Beth Nelson, Executive Director of Savannah Area Film Office.
Georgia has seen a boom in film production since 2008 when new legislation offered 30 percent tax credits to production companies. In 2016, Savannah added a local film incentive that is offered on top of the state incentive to help grow the industry in the region. The film and television industry is responsible for more than 79,000 jobs, roughly $4 billion in wages and has helped bring 120 more films to Georgia in the last seven years (according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.) In 2015, the film and television industry was responsible for more than $58 million spend in the Savannah region. The new studio will bring a bigger percentage of that to the Savannah area and provide a more stable environment for creatives to find full-time work including graduates of SCAD.
Dickey brings over 35 years of experience in the warehousing and operations industry to this new venture, River Oaks Film Studios. The Mississippi-native relocated to Savannah in 2010 as the President of OA Logistics; a company he once owned and grew from 100,000 sq. ft. to over 4.5 million sq. ft. of operating space. Dickey brought two of those major warehouses to Savannah. After 12 years in that position, he resigned and formed A&A Heritage Solutions, LLC. in January and R. Dickey Enterprises, LLC., a real estate development company.
