Is Trilith Studios Building the Next Hollywood?

Is Trilith, the Model for Future Cities, a “Company Town” for Marvel’s Georgia Production Workers?

You’re a makeup artist or a production manager on a Marvel movie. You’re working long hours and barely have time to shop for food or exercise. You could theoretically live in Trilith, a new “company town” for Marvel movie workers in Douglasville, GA.

Designed as a pedestrian-friendly community with on-site amenities and residences, Trilith is the brainchild of developer Stan Thomas. Inspired by the model of suburban company towns from the early 20th century (think Hershey, PA), Thomas hopes to create a space where workers can live, play, and socialize without having to leave the property.

While Trilith is still under construction, it’s been pitched as a potential template for future cities. With its mix of residences, retail, and entertainment options, could Trilith be the key to mitigating the long hours and isolation often experienced by workers in the film industry?

Only time will tell whether or not Trilith lives up to its promise. In the meantime, it’s certainly an intriguing concept that could have significant implications for the future of city planning.

Marvel’s Georgia operations, including Trilith Studios’ (formerly Pinewood Atlanta) town area, hold out the almost-too-good hope of Trilith. Dan T. Cathy’s River’s Rock Trust bought out Marvel’s share in the studios and town in 2020. Chick-fil-A principal Dan T. Cathy and his family are the sole proprietors of the studio and town.

The studios were used to produce “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (2018), “Black Panther” (2018), and portions of “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018). The purchase allows Cathy to control the production side of things and the living and working environment of the town’s residents.

Cathy has said that he wants to make Trilith “a community for all those who are creatively inclined” to provide “an experience that is above and beyond anything currently available in the film industry.”

“We want to create an environment that is supportive of the creative process and also provides an experience that is above and beyond anything currently available in the film industry,” said Cathy. “We have plans to develop a town area with a mix of residential, retail, and entertainment options specifically tailored to the needs of those working in the creative arts.”

The town will also feature a fitness center, running trails, and green spaces.

Not everyone will appreciate the healthy suburban community, but its innovative, environmentally conscious architecture demonstrates that new home developments don’t have to be cookie-cutter boxes.

Trilith was originally called Pinewood Forest, and it was developed in the middle of Georgia farmland 13 miles from Atlanta airport. But it’s not a charming copy town, nor does it attempt to attract devoted followers like Disney’s housing projects do.

Instead, Trilith is a new town of about 5,000 people that was built according to New Urbanism concepts, which advocate for walkable and compact communities with a variety of building types and fewer cars — the polar opposite of most tract house developments in the United States. According to the developer, not everyone who resides at Trilith works in the film industry.

Some of Trilith’s homes and condos reinterpret traditional European and British-style designs, while others have more modern facades. They’re built closer together than usual tract houses to make the neighborhood more walkable, with no yards to speak of but pocket parks — a benefit to busy production workers. The energy-efficient homes have solar panels and rainwater harvesting systems.

Trilith Development president Rob Parker says they have a waiting list. If you come from the film industry, it’s easy living. Single-family houses start at around $700,000 and go up to $1 million. They’re more expensive than neighboring areas, but they’re still reasonable compared to family homes in Los Angeles and New York City..

Sorry, Marvel enthusiasts — you won’t find any streets named after the Avengers or other corny tie-ins. Still, you might come across “WandaVision” being filmed on your street.“There are about a dozen different looks” for shooting in the town, says Parker, who points out that Wakanda was built in the open area down the road. Meanwhile, “Family Feud” shoots on the town side. Trilith village includes coffee shops, restaurants, a multiplex, fitness facilities, retail shops and community gathering spaces, along with 51% of the 200-acre town devoted to green spaces.

The ease of life and the lower cost of living, combined with increased job opportunities, have attracted many producers from New York or Los Angeles to relocate.

“I feel like I’m actually living here,” says stunt woman Shauna Galligan, an early Trilith home buyer. Galligan, who worked on “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame,” sold her house in Los Angeles and says enough industry people have now moved to the neighborhood — an actress, an assistant director, a director — that “we could pretty much film an entire movie with the people we have now.”

“I have three dogs; we live at the lake, watching the sun go down,” she says. Galligan likes remembering shooting films like “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” when she looks out at the stages across the lake.

Galligan says the higher home prices didn’t dissuade her, because “It’s got that style you wouldn’t see anywhere else. I was blown away by the architecture and the details.”

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