Wrigley Woodhill Studios Offers ‘New Life’ for Old Kentucky Multiplex
variety.comTodd Longwell When the subject of homegrown Kentucky production companies comes up these days, the first name out of anyone’s mouth is Wrigley Media Group, which is transforming an abandoned multiplex in the city of Lexington into a full-service state-of-the-art art 52,000-sq.-ft.
studio complex, dubbed Wrigley Woodhill Studios.Currently, it has a single soundstage, which is hosting the second season of the group’s nationally syndicated courtroom reality show “Relative Justice,” starring Judge Rhonda Wills.
But when the second phase of the renovation is finished in early 2023, it will be the largest studio facility in Kentucky, with room to host outside productions drawn to the commonwealth by its revived film and TV incentive, featuring a 30%-35% refundable tax credit. “We developed ‘Relative Justice’ and sold it into most of the country, and then we had to make it,” says Ross Babbit, Wrigley Media’s executive producer and chief content officer. “We knew that we needed a space big enough to have court set and a gallery audience, along with all the support spaces, and there wasn’t a ready-made space in Lexington.”They looked at warehouses and airplane hangars, finally, they discovered the 10-theater Woodhill Cinemas multiplex.“It was an ‘a-ha’ moment,” Babbit says. “I walked in there and saw that massive movie theater with no columns, a 30-foot ceiling, soundproofing already in place and an air conditioning unit that wouldn’t interfere with production.”After the seats were removed, the floor leveled and new electronics installed, the theater was ready to play as a soundstage for “Relative Justice.” Once the build-out of the entire complex is completed next year, it will boast three soundstages, along with productions.
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