On the outskirts of Anniston, Alabama, visitors will find the decommissioned barracks of Fort McClellan.
The historic site served as a major training post during World War II and later served groups like the Army Military Police School and the Women’s Army Corps. before eventually closing in 1999.
Now, the fort is being revitalized — but not by the city itself and not for military use. Rather, comedian and actor Katt Williams has purchased the property to develop a movie production studio. And it’s a move that the city’s mayor is overjoyed about.
“This is a sector of the economy that I think could be transformational for this region,” Anniston Mayor Jack Draper told WVTM 13.
The property Williams purchased is a large site recently listed by Luxe Group Realty for $1.5 million, though it was priced at $5 million when it first went up in 2023.
According to the listing, the site features more than 90 acres of flat, usable land. It also has two large gymnasiums, 30 concrete buildings, 3 million square feet of indoor space and 10 barracks with 20 rooms each.
When areas like this are purchased and redeveloped, buyers can face backlash from locals who prefer to see history preserved. But in this situation, the mayor at least is fully on board.
“This is the perfect setting for a production company,” Draper said.
Although it’s unclear when Williams and his team plan to start using the site as a production studio, Draper is excited to see the impact on the broader area.
“You’re talking about jobs, you’re talking about construction projects, not only for the city, county, but also the region,” he said.
Williams isn’t the only celebrity to build their own studio in recent years.
In 2015, Tyler Perry launched Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. Like Wiliams’ studio, it’s set on the grounds of a former army base: Fort McPherson. The area features 40 buildings and 12 purpose-built sound stages on 200 acres of greenspace.
During his studio’s grand opening, Perry said he was “grateful for the opportunity this gives Tyler Perry Studios to extend our footprint in Atlanta and create more opportunities for the people of Southwest Atlanta with restaurants, entertainment venues and other business opportunities.”
Then-mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said “significant job creation such as this will create more opportunities for hardworking Georgians and surrounding small businesses, which are the real backbone of our state’s economy.”
In 2017, Perry contributed to generating nearly $10 billion for Georgia’s economy, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. His studio also offered more than 400 job opportunities within the metropolitan area.
A few years later in 2022, actor Anthony Mackie purchased 20 acres of land to build a production studio in his hometown of New Orleans. Mayor LaToya Cantrell was thrilled to learn of Mackie’s efforts, noting that projects like these could boost the city’s economy in a big way.
While Hollywood has long been known as a movie production hub, a number of states besides California offer tax incentives for film and television production.