Scott Votaw talks new Georgia Film Academy training center

A rendering of Main Street GFA the indoor backlot at Georgia Film Academy s new training facility with Assembly Studios Photo provided by Cookerly The Georgia Film Academy GFA and Assembly Studios are planning to open a new training facility for students According to a press release the square foot training facility will be located adjacent to Assembly Studios complex in Doraville GFA Executive Director Scott Votaw stated that he and Assembly VP of Studio Operations Justin Campbell have been talking about partnering together for various time It s the only way that you can learn in an artistic craft like film and entertainment Votaw disclosed about hands-on training It s a hands-on business You can theorize all you want you can read books and you can watch YouTube videos but until you really have done it it s very laborious to connect the dots GFA is an coaching initiative operated in partnership with institutions in the University System of Georgia the Technical College System of Georgia and independent universities in the state The Assembly training facility is expected to open on Aug While GFA has other training facilities around the state their main hub is Trilith Studios in Fayetteville Votaw explained part of the reason he is excited about the new Assembly location is its accessibility The studio is directly accessible from the MARTA Gold line If we want to be diverse and provide opportunities for all Georgians this is the way to do it Votaw disclosed Being on the MARTA line creates the opportunity and capability for students from every walk of life regardless of their socio-economic position According to Votaw the Trilith training facility is geared towards traditional film and television production With Assembly he hopes that GFA can also look toward the future At the Assembly Studios model we re really moving into a very progressive mode with new media streaming as well as film and television he mentioned In addition to everything a crew might need to shoot a major motion picture a shop an art department a grip and electric demonstration room a sound stage and more the Assembly training facility will also include something unique an exterior backlot built inside the building The biggest struggle with teaching students how to work outside is if it rains for two or three days I lose days of instruction that I can t get back in a semester model where I have students coming for weeks Votaw explained So we decided to teach a lot of that in an interior habitat Designed by Michael Gowen who served as art director on movies like Jumanji The Next Level and El Camino the indoor GFA Main Street will connect to all of the other aspects of the facility Though the training center is set to open in August the backlot will be a work in progress for the next year or two The backlot will be not only something the students can work on but the students will be building and augmenting and changing as part of their class Votaw commented According to Votaw Georgia Film Academy now has a footprint in cities like Savannah Columbus and Athens If he sees a need for more training facilities in the future they ll tackle that goal Wherever business is going we re gonna be there he disclosed The post Scott Votaw talks new Georgia Film Academy training center appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta