Studios & Stages

A stage costs money that a borrowed living room does not. You are buying three things: sound control, light control, and the right to work past 11pm without a neighbour calling the police. If your scene does not need at least two of those, shoot on location.

Columbus

Kinopicz Studio — kinopicz.com/studio. Roughly five minutes west of downtown Columbus. The facility is described as a 5,000 sq ft studio containing a 2,300 sq ft soundstage with a permanent two-wall cyclorama, for video or stills.

OHD Studios / Ohio HD — ohdstudios.com/studio. A turnkey production facility and rental house near John Glenn International. Studio A is described as roughly 4,200 sq ft with a three-wall infinity cyc and drive-in access; Studio B as roughly 2,500 sq ft with an LED wall for virtual production.

Horizons Studios — horizonscompanies.com/horizons-studios. Production studios with cyc wall, audio recording, and edit facilities.

Film Columbus keeps the regional list of studio facilities, which is more current than any static page: Film Studios.

Rates are not published consistently and vary with crew size, power draw, and whether you need the space overnight. Ask for a day rate and an overtime rate in the same email.

What a cyc is for, and when you do not need one

A cyclorama — the curved white or green wall — buys you a seamless background you can light to any value, or key out entirely. It is the reason to book a stage for product work, music video, interview, and any effects plate.

It is not the reason to book a stage for a dialogue scene. For dialogue you are paying for silence and grid, and a warehouse with a quiet HVAC will do it for less.

Cheaper alternatives in Central Ohio

  • Church halls, VFW posts, and Grange halls. Large, cheap, frequently empty on weekdays, and the person who books them is reachable by phone.
  • Vacant retail. Landlords with unleased space will sometimes trade a week for a small fee and a certificate of insurance.
  • Self-storage and warehouse units. Bad acoustics, good control, cheap. Bring sound blankets.
  • Peerspace-style hourly rentals. Practical for a half-day when a full stage day is overkill; verify the space's actual noise floor before booking, because listings never mention the HVAC.
  • University facilities. If you have a student on the crew, stage access may come with them. See Education & Training.

Booking checklist

  • Load-in and load-out times, and whether they are inside the rate
  • Power available: how many circuits, what amperage, whether you can tie in
  • Ceiling height and whether there is a grid or you are on stands
  • Noise floor with HVAC running, and whether you may turn HVAC off
  • Parking for the crew and for a truck
  • Who else is in the building that day
  • Whether the cyc has been repainted recently and who pays for scuffs
  • Insurance requirements and the certificate holder's exact legal name

Related

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