June 29, 2020–7:56 a.m.
STAFF REPORTS
Last week it was announced that Atlanta-based Playa Azul Media Studios had purchased commercial space to build its first two sound studios in downtown Rome.
PAM Studios Founder & CEO Maria Guerra-Stoll said that she became aware of Rome when she met Seth Ingram with the Rome International Film Festival at Sundance.
“We were both helping to bring people over with a program called ‘Choose Georgia,’” she said. “He started telling me a little bit about the Rome International Film Festival and invited me to be a speaker, which I did last year. So, when I got to Rome and saw the beauty and the rivers, I fell in love with it.”
Guerra-Stoll said that she plans on working with students in the new film pathways program at Georgia Highlands College.
“I am planning on doing a combination, hiring students and locals,” she added.
Guerra-Stoll was asked about what we can expect in the weeks and months ahead.
“Right now, we are actually finishing the plans and getting approval to rehabilitate the building,” she said. “We cannot set a date yet, but sometime close to the fall we will have a big grand opening.”
The studio’s first project is a reality TV series, “40 Akerz and a Brew,” starring the GRAMMY-nominated hip-hop group Nappy Roots.
During one episode, the members of Nappy Roots will visit Rome City Brewing Company, as well as many well-known sites and centers around the city.
In addition to film and television production, PAM Studios is launching its new YouTube show, “Playa Azul Cinema” in July.
The show will feature Guerra-Stoll interviewing important voices in the Georgia film industry, including our own Seth Ingram.
To learn more about PAM Studios, its slate of upcoming film and television productions and its YouTube Channel, visit www.pam-studios.com.