DATE: Sunday, July 13, 1997                 TAG: 9707140208

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ADAM BERNSTEIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PETERSBURG                        LENGTH:  149 lines

A BIT OF HOLLYWOOD DEBUTS IN VIRGINIA A SATURDAY GALA DEDICATES MOVIE STUDIO THAT NORFOLK NATIVE HELPED BRING TO STATE.

On a converted turn-of-the-century soybean farm in the western part of town, Norfolk native Tim Reid on Saturday ushered in an $11 million motion-picture studio that aims to influence the region well beyond the year 2000.

Reid, the actor-director who will serve as the creative director for the project, was on hand for the gala opening for New Millennium Studios on Saturday.

The studio is designed to channel Hollywood money into the state, creating jobs at the same time.

``This is not just about making movies,'' Reid said. `It's about moving the community together and building a business.''

Joining Reid at the event were his wife, actress Daphne Maxwell Reid; and their project partners Dan Hoffler, the chairman of the board for the Chesapeake-based construction and development firm Armada/Hoffler; and businessman Mark Warner, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate last year.

Hoffler and Warner together put up $11 million, the total cost for all three phases of the studio, which is scheduled for completion in the summer of 1999. When finished, the project - which already has a 15,000-square-foot sound studio, post-production facilities and a 15-acre backlot - will be able to manufacture television shows and movies.

Already shot at the studio is a made-for-television film by Turner Original Films called ``The Day Lincoln Was Shot,'' for which a 19th-century replica of the White House was built for $100,000.

Reid said he hopes three other films are shot at his studio within the next year.

Only a handful of Virginians work at New Millennium now, Reid said. He said he did not know when others might be brought aboard.

He said he chose Petersburg for the project because pre-development studies showed that a central location was ideal for transportation to the Atlantic Ocean or to the mountains in the western part of the state.

Other locations he considered include Norfolk, Suffolk, Williamsburg and Virginia Beach, where there is a now-defunct studio called Atlantic Film Studios.

As an incentive, Petersburg bought the 60 acres on Squirrel Level Road that New Millennium now uses and gave the tract to the company. The city spent $560,000 on the property, of which $275,000 was subsidized by the Governor's Opportunity Fund.

Commonwealth Commerce Secretary Robert T. Skunda, who sat a few chairs to Reid's left on Saturday, said the film industry brought $32 million into Virginia in 1996.

An inspiration for the studio project was North Carolina, which in the last 17 years has seen a Horatio Alger-like leap in film-related revenue.

Since 1983, according to reports, about $2 billion has been funneled into Wilmington, where there are two film studios, Wilmington Film Studios and Screen Gems Studios.

Some studios in North Carolina have not been able to duplicate Wilmington's success. Seven studios with a total of 29 sound stages statewide have split the market.

Although 53 films were shot in North Carolina last year, four of the studios saw no business.

New Millennium will certainly be a boon to Petersburg. Since 1989, Southpark Mall in nearby Colonial Heights has triggered a rash of retail-business closings.

Reid, who has a home in Charlottesville, said he is committed to the project for at least five years.

Reid will run the studio on a day-to-day basis starting in summer 1998, by which time Phase Two will be complete. That phase will include two more sound studios, a headquarters, a commissary and a blue-screen stage to project any background settings for the actors.

Phase Three, to be completed the following summer, will mean an additional two sound stages and establishing a film school with local colleges.

``Believe me, you'll see more of me than you'll want to see in Petersburg,'' Reid said.

Reid graduated from Norfolk State University in 1968 and is best known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Venus Flytrap on ``WKRP in Cincinnati.''

He also starred in the television show ``Frank's Place'' and has directed and produced feature-length films, including ``Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored."

Daphne Reid acted in the television series ``The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.''

Tim Reid has generated $500,000 in scholarships for his alma mater since 1989 with his star-studded tennis tournament, now called the Tim Reid Celebrity Weekend. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Actor Tim Reid and his wife, Daphne Maxwell Reed[sic], thank guests

for helping with New Millennium Studios as Petersburg mayor Rosalyn

A. Dance looks on.

Tim Reid, a native of Norfolk, and partners worked to bring an $11

million studio to Virginia.

Graphic

REID'S FIELD OF DREAMS BECOMES REALITY

After a successful career as an actor, producer and director in

TV and films, Norfolk native Tim Reid ascends to another level in

show business with the dedication of New Millennium Studios in

Petersburg. As finishing touches were being added to phase one of

the studio, Reid took time out for this interview with

Virginian-Pilot television columnist Larry Bonko.

Would it be stretching things to say this studio is a dream come

true?

It is, indeed, a dream come true. I was taught by my family to be

a dreamer, to reach high. We've done that here. One of the problems

I see in young people today is that they lack a belief in dreams

coming true.

Along with your wife, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Mark Warner of

Columbia Capital and Dan and Melissa Hoffler of Armada/Hoffler,

you're a partner in a movie studio. How does that feel?

It feels great. There's not a day I don't remember that I came

from humble beginnings - 718 Chapel St. in Norfolk, to be exact. I

lived many years in the projects. Now I'm on the verge of getting

what I want, which is a place where I focus on being creative, focus

on making movies in Virginia.

What is the size of the investment in New Millennium Studios?

The whole package will cost about $11 million. We're opening the

first phase this weekend, and that will be a full-service $4 million

movie studio comparable to any studio on the East Coast. We'll have

all the facilities for filming, makeup, hair, sound, music,

post-production, animation. You could do ``Star Wars'' here.

Why call it ``New Millennium''?

Why not? We are approaching the millennium. We kicked around

names, and when we did, New Millennium Studios stuck.

How deeply were you involved in the construction?

I was involved in every detail, from where the wiring goes to

what kind of carpet we'd use. Just about six months ago, we were

standing in the middle of a soybean field visualizing what the

studio would look like. Now it's up and running - Turner Original

films is here this week to film scenes for ``The Day Lincoln Was

Shot.'' The soybean field is my field of dreams.

How is your studio contributing to the Turner film?

We built a replica of the White House as it was in the 19th

century at a cost of $100,000. It will be a permanent set that can

be used in other films, commercials and documentaries. We plan to

rent our facilities to anyone who wants to film in Virginia.

Do you have all you need to make Virginia a film capital?

We have this state-of-the-art facility. Now what we need to do is

to find and train what I call a ``crew base,'' which is a pool of

people who can do the craft work on films such as constructing sets.

I know the talent is here.

You've already built a career in films and TV. You're a respected

filmmaker. Why take on this project?

Because ``stop'' is not a word in my vocabulary. It's fine to act

and direct. But I believe I'm destined to build and create. This is

a first step.

When do you expect to begin shooting a film of your own in

Petersburg?

We're aiming for October.

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