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ORLANDO - Monarch Studios may at long last have decided on a home but locals are waiting for a little more detail before rolling out the red carpet.
"It's a wonderful concept with wonderful synergies," says Joe Wallace, executive director of the Orange County Research & Development Authority, which oversees the Central Florida Research Park. It's there that Monarch hopes to build a massive production studio. Says Wallace, "We're just waiting to see some tangibles before we can approve or not approve the project."
Monarch Studios has spent the past few years scouting sites in Sanford. Kissimmee and Daytona to build what would be one of the largest studio projects outside of Hollywood.
Now, Monarch Chief Operations Officer Dan Cetrone is in discussions with the research park to exercise an option to buy 32 acres there for studio facilities.
The goal: to build the first fully digital studio that includes an advanced digital research center enabling the studio and the University of Central Florida to partner on research and development.
"We believe it is a perfect fit with the university, and that it will allow us to have an independent studio in town that is big enough to produce some major film projects as well," Cetrone says. "Digital...