ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 13, 1996 TAG: 9610140072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-12 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PETERSBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
An ambitious plan to build a movie studio in Petersburg could put the city on the film-making map.
Actors Tim and Daphne Maxwell Reid said Friday that they plan to build an $11 million movie studio on 65 acres the city will give them in western Petersburg.
Tim Reid said he expects cameras will be rolling at New Millennium Studios by spring. By the time the studio is fully completed in spring 1998, the Reids will have the facilities to do all but the final phase of movie production.
Tim Reid is best known for his portrayal of Venus Flytrap in the sitcom ``WKRP in Cincinnati.'' Daphne Reid is known recently for her work on ``The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.''
The city will buy the land for $560,000 and donate it to the Reids. A $275,000 grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund will be used to help pay for the land. City officials expect more help from the state next year.
Tim Reid said Petersburg had an advantage over other states he considered because Virginia is his home. He is a Norfolk native and a 1968 graduate of Norfolk State University. His wife is from New York.
The studio is expected to create 100 jobs, and Reid said he would hire local residents for most of them.
Petersburg Economic Development Manager Vandy Jones said the studio means more than money and jobs.
``It's also major in the image factor that it brings to the city,'' he said. ``There are not many localities that can claim a full-production, state-of-the-art movie studio.''
Petersburg, once one of the wealthiest cities in the state, has suffered an image problem of late.
LENGTH: Short : 41 linesby CNB