Large film and television campus planned for Roseburg property
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) Calling it the first of its kind in Montana, a group of Broadway veterans and investors plan to open a 47-acre film and television campus in Missoula on the former Roseberg property, with a ribbon cutting planned this week.
In an announcement on Wednesday, Story House said the project represents the first large-scale soundstage in Montana and will anchor “an ambitious plan to retain local talent, create high-paying creative jobs, and help build a new green industry” in the state.
“Missoula has given us the opportunity to show what the next era of entertainment infrastructure can look like – green, local, and value-driven,” said collaborator and CEO Sean Patrick Higgins.
The Roseburg particleboard plant closed last year, raising speculation on what would become of the sprawling inner-city property. Missoula County approved a boundary adjustment for the site last October while Roseburg sought annexation into the city.
That request and others to come pended the outcome of the Legislature, which concluded with no bills detrimental to annexation of the property and plans for development.
“We will regroup with Roseburg, city staff, the Missoula Economic Partnership and the county to determine how and when we move forward with annexation,” said Ellen Buchanan, director of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency.
The Studios @ Story House Montana said the 47-acre campus will include a 400,000 square-foot film and television campus. The project will include five “premium” soundstages, post-production suites, commercial workshops and an “Americana backlot.”
The project is expected to create 435 jobs with hiring focused on veterans, Native Americans and displaced workers from both the lumber and mineral sectors, according to the company. It also said that it's working with state and local leaders to ensure “smart, community-first development,” which could include workforce housing on the property.
“Too often, Montana's artists and filmmakers feel like they have to leave home to make it,” said James Brown III, president and chief creative officer of Story House. “We're building a place where they can launch careers, tell stories and create lives right here.”
The company said it will begin filming two major productions this year including St. George and Lowering the Bar.
“We're not just building studios,” Higgins said. “We're creating an ecosystem. We're telling stories from this land, by the people who know it best.”
Missoula has attracted interest regarding similar projects in the past. In 2020, a media company sought to build a $20 million Montana Media Hub on 16 acres in the Technology Park near the airport.
That project didn't occur, however, based in part on the state's failure to increase the film tax credit to a level sought by advocates at the time.
But Story House has completed a similar project in Wyoming and will launch a film institute to span both projects. Backers said they've already established ties to the University of Montana to ensure that “film careers can begin and grow in-state, keeping the creative economy grounded in local soil.”