Officials in Effingham County have approved an agreement with a Los Angeles based film studio to build a new $90 million location.

The facility could create as many as a thousand new jobs for Southeast Georgia.

"Creative opportunities are limitless when you're working with cinema because film making applies so many different creative problem solving skills," says Savannah College of Art and Design Film and Television professor Michael Chaney.

Medient Studios is expecting to produce up to 10 films a year and video games at their proposed Effingham County facility.

Chaney says the area already has many ties with the film industry.

"Savannah is very open and encouraging to film production," says Chaney. "Every year hundreds of entertainment industry professionals come to Savannah to participate in a variety of workshops, panel discussions and film screenings at the Savannah Film Festival."

Executives with the studio say the 1,500 acre lot next to Interstate 16 will be environmentally sensitive with solar panels to power lights and vehicles that don't use fossil fuels.

Chaney says, health care, food and beverage and design companies all could benefit.

There is currently no timeline for completion.

But Medient Studios officials say they could begin filming as early as this summer.

Tags: business, Savannah College of Art and Design, Effingham County, GPBnews, orlando montoya, SCAD, John A. Young, hollywood, I-16, Michael Chaney, Medient Studios, Film Studio, Effingham County Industrial Development Agency