Construction has started on a new 45-hectare film and television campus near St. Louis. At its heart: six modular soundstages, designed, manufactured and installed by Spantech, and expected to be production-ready in around 12 months.
On 5 October 2026, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker joined Hollywood River Studios founder and CEO Christopher Breakwell in Wood River, Illinois, to break ground on the company’s new production campus, around 25 km north of St. Louis.
For Spantech, it marks a milestone: Hollywood River Studios is our first new-build studio campus in the United States.
For decades, the American Midwest has lacked the permanent studio infrastructure that major film, television and streaming productions need. Hollywood River Studios is built on a simple premise: productions follow infrastructure.
The 45-hectare (110-acre) Wood River campus will combine:
A second site — a 5,100 m² (55,000 sq ft) facility at America’s Central Port in nearby Granite City — serves as an equipment warehouse and production base camp. Its location on the Mississippi lets productions work across both Illinois and Missouri.
Breakwell knows the model works. He previously founded 31st Street Studios in Pittsburgh, home to productions such as The Dark Knight Rises and Jack Reacher.
As production incentives grow outside traditional centres such as Los Angeles, London and Atlanta, new regions are building their own studio capacity — and the speed at which stages can be delivered is becoming a deciding factor.
We are delivering the six stages using our Grand I-Novation system, a patented foldable steel truss structure. Each stage offers:
Because the structures are prefabricated off-site and assembled on location, construction takes a fraction of the time of traditional concrete-and-steel studios. We expect the stages to be ready in around 12 months.
“We are grateful that Hollywood River Studios has entrusted Spantech with its soundstages. It is a strong statement of confidence in a technology that is changing how studios get built. Netflix and Amazon already use Spantech soundstages in other regions, and Hollywood River Studios will be our first new-build studio campus in the United States, a market where we have ambitious plans for growth.” — Derek de Villenfagne, CEO of Spantech
The campus also benefits from Illinois’ film incentives. In 2025, the state raised its film tax credit to 35% of qualifying in-state labour and vendor spending, with an extra 5% for productions filming outside the Chicago metropolitan area — which includes Wood River.
Hollywood River Studios projects the campus could support more than 1,000 permanent jobs, with individual productions employing 300 to 500 people each and creating recurring business for local crews, suppliers, hotels and restaurants across the greater St. Louis region.
From first sketch to final installation, we design, manufacture and install purpose-built soundstages for studios and streamers worldwide. Discover our soundstage solutions or get in touch with our team today!
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