Todd Longwell Located 25 miles south of downtown Atlanta, in Fayetteville, Trilith Studios is the nation’s largest purpose-built studio complex, with a long list of clients ranging from Marvel movies such as “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” to the latest iteration of the game show “Family Feud.” Now, it’s expanding outside its gates with Trilith Live, a seven-acre entertainment complex set to open next month adjacent to the studio in the Town at Trilith, its 235-acre master-planned development with 300 homes — and room for 450 more — a large percentage of which house entertainment workers. Trilith Live will feature a cinema complex, an 1,800-seat auditorium, 120,000 square-feet of restaurants, shops and office space and, most significant, a pair of 25,000-square-foot stages for productions using live studio audiences, such as reality competition and game shows. “Our vision is that we’re building a place that has everything storytellers need, anything they can imagine,” says Frank Patterson, president and CEO of Trilith Studios. According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, more than 800,000 square-feet of new soundstage space has opened for business in the Peach State since the beginning of 2023, and by 2025 it is projected to have upwards of 7 million square feet of stages, more than anywhere else in the U.S. The rapid growth is epitomized by Cinelease’s Three Ring Studios in Covington, 35 miles east of Atlanta.
