San Diego State University and the city of Chula Vista signed an agreement to expand some classes into the South Bay city. As NBC 7’s Joe Little explains, those students would share a new building with a company that most would say is more Hollywood than Chula Vista.
The entrepreneur called it “Hollywood 2.0." Chula Vista called it a “really exciting project."
Tuesday afternoon, the city of Chula Vista signed a letter of intent with the Chula Vista Entertainment Complex (CVEC). Founder and CEO Aaron David Roberts described it as an extensive entertainment production facility.
“I've been calling it ‘Hollywood 2.0 in Chula Vista,'” he said while looking out the window of the top floor of Chula Vista’s new Millenia Library building.
Roberts said CVEC will be able to produce movies, TV shows, podcasts or anything else to be consumed by the masses.
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“We are looking at state of the art virtual production technology,” Roberts said while looking at a lot next to the library where a new studio will be constructed.
“It's in a more immersive experience for the actors. They don't have to imagine what's behind them,” he explained. “We are estimating over $544 million in economic impact to the region over our first 10 years in operation.”
“This is a really exciting project for Chula Vista,” said Chula Vista Assistant City Manager Tiffany Allen. “This is going to bring a completely new industry to South Bay and bring the film industry back to San Diego.”
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Allen said the CVEC will occupy the top two floors of the new five-story Millenia Library building in eastern Chula Vista. The middle two floors will be home to Chula Vista’s first new public library in 30 years.
Also on Tuesday afternoon, the city signed a letter of intent with San Diego State University to allow its nursing program to expand into the bottom floor of the building once it’s completed at the end of next year.
“This is not something that we anticipated, but we are thrilled to have found these partners,” Allen smiled. “We are no longer a bedroom community. We are the economic future of San Diego.”
Roberts said CVEC is investing roughly $85 million into the two floors of the Millenia Library and studio across the street. Roberts expected to studio to be ready for production by 2027.
