BASTROP, Texas — Just 50 miles away from the heart of Downtown Austin, one visionary sees the Lone Star State as the location for the next Hollywood.
“I didn’t think Atlanta could be either, but I absolutely, 100% see a Hollywood future in Austin,” Alton Butler, the owner and CEO of Line 204, said.
Butler, an Alabama native, moved to Los Angeles and created a successful production rental company called Line 204, attracting major players in the film industry like Netflix, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Hulu and Disney.
But now he’s ready to bring those big productions to Bastrop with 204 Texas. The 600-acre piece of property at 1240 Lovers Lane will house eight studios and a range of amenities, like a workout facility, as well as immersive sets that people can spend the night at.
A new Hollywood?
For Butler, it's about bringing Hollywood to Texas.
“How can I create all of those elements that rural America or the people who don’t get to visit Hollywood because it’s too expensive, right?” Butler said.
Texas also presents itself as an attractive place for filming because Butler said it comes without all of the rules and regulations that usually slow down or even stop productions in California.
“It’s easier to load up a camera and go out and shoot without all these strenuous amounts of rules and regulations that come with filming,” Butler said. “Texas comes without all of that.”
204 Texas will also already have all the supplies production companies need to film, like trucking companies, decor and wardrobe. The company already has a contract with MBS Studio Equipment, a stage lighting equipment supplier in Los Angeles.
“We’re bringing in that self-sustained industry immediately,” Butler said.
Building up Bastrop
Butler plans to keep the community engaged as a part of this project, too. He hopes to partner with local universities like Texas State and the University of Texas at Austin, as well as local high schools, to give students a chance to learn from crews and be on sets.
“What we are doing is we’re trying to create an opportunity for rural America to have a chance to make some money,” Butler said.
It’s an opportunity Butler said he would have loved to have, as a kid growing up in a small town in Alabama.
And because of all of the adjacent industries that go along with filming – like prop rental companies, wardrobe, car rental and food service – Butler sees the areas surrounding Austin also being built up as a result.
“You think about the Burbanks, the Orange Countys, all this area around Los Angeles grew into these areas because of the heartbeat of LA,” Butler said. “So the heartbeat of Austin, you know, of this industry, that’s going to build around that and that ecosystem.”
$1.3 billion economic impact
From their required economic impact study of the project, it’s estimated that the studios would bring in $1.3 billion in 10 years, but Butler estimates it will even be much higher. But at the root of it, Butler deeply desires to build up the heartland, where he started off in life.
“I’m excited to help the community and help rural America, people like me, to be able to give them an opportunity in life,” Butler said.
Recently, the studios have run into some hold-ups with the city, but Butler said with plans completely ready to go, construction could start as early as two weeks. The first phase of the project that would build out the eight studios would cost around $50 million and is estimated to be completed in late 2025.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.