ATLANTA—Last year Georgia led the world in feature film production. The rise of the film industry in the state has lots of tentacles beyond stars, famous directors and big-budget blockbusters. One such story is Randolph Williamson, a Peachtree City, GA-based construction company that had plenty of expertise in building hotels and medical office buildings before Hollywood took notice of Georgia and its attractive film incentives.
Now, as general contractor at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, Randolph Williamson is building sound stages, catwalks, gantries and systems that make it rain indoors. That new set of skills has earned the company four more studio projects that are in pre-construction phase. GlobeSt.com caught up with Mark Williamson, to gauge how he landed the deal in part one of this exclusive interview.
GlobeSt.com: How did the deal to become general contractor in the construction of Pinewood Atlanta Studios come about?
Williamson: Pinewood Atlanta Studios is a joint venture between Pinewood Studios in London, and River Rocks LLC, the real estate development arm created by the Cathy family, who, like Randolph Williamson, call Fayette County home. The family is most known for Truett Cathy creating the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, and his son Dan continues to lead the business. Because the studios were planned for Fayette County and the Cathys knew us and trusted our work, it was only natural we would bid to build them. It was an exciting opportunity.
GlobeSt.com: Did you have any hesitation about bidding on the job since you had never built sound stages before?
Williamson: Not really. I have a lot of confidence in our team. They are smart and experienced. We've built more than 500 commercial projects, that include a wide variety of types of facilities.
I knew that whatever was needed, our people would be able to do it and do it well. And, they have proved they could do it. Pinewood Atlanta Studios is one of the absolute top facilities of its kind in the world, and it has set a high standard for movie studio development in Georgia.
GlobeSt.com: What research and preparation did you do before starting the project and what lessons did you learn during construction?
Williamson: As with all projects, there is a lot of pre-construction work to do. We study the plans thoroughly to make sure we fully understand all aspects of the job, from materials to timing. We met with the architects and partners, mapping out all the details of construction, creating a plan and a timetable.
Building a large project like this requires a lot of teamwork among all the parties, from ownership to subcontractors, suppliers and inspectors. As the general contractor, we take the lead in making sure everything is completed as planned, on schedule and within budget.
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