Austin Film Society’s latest addition to its 20-acre production facility is ready for its close-up.
The new $5.4 million Creative Media Center and the adjacent Stage 7 bring an additional 38,500-square-feet of space to Austin Studios. The project is funded by a 2012 voter-approved city of Austin bond.
“The city of Austin has proven itself a visionary partner to the film industry,” said Richard Linklater, AFS founder and artistic director. “They entrusted Austin Film Society to create this facility 20 years ago, helped us transform airplane hangars into soundstages in 2006, and worked with us to create a building that will provide essential space for independent filmmakers and small businesses.”
The center features scalable, flexible space designed to accommodate short term production rentals or long-term leases to independent filmmakers, production companies, and other businesses in the field. A central lobby and meeting spaces will be available for community use. And Stage 7 is available for diverse short-term or long-term rentals.
The building that houses the new Creative Media Center is a former Texas National Guard armory, a remnant from the days when the Austin Studios property was part of the former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. An adaptive reuse project, the center was designed by global architecture firm Gensler and is LEED-Certified
Also ready for its premiere is Eric Eley’s is “Split Diopter,” a large-scale sculpture commissioned by the city’s Art in Public Places program. Sited in front of the new Creative Media Center, the sculpture is an homage to the film camera lens. Made of ceramic blocks supported by an internal steel structure, “Split Diopter” is lit internally by LED lights in the three colors that compose all projected images: red, blue and green.
