Black Executive Teams Up With Eastern European Investment Firm To Bring Hollywood Films To Region

Film producer Marvin Peart has partnered with the Georgian government and an investment firm to bring Hollywood to the region.

Marvin Peart and his production company, WonderHill Studios, have partnered with the Georgian government and Eastern European investment firm Silk Road Group to increase the number of Hollywood productions being filmed in the country of Georgia, Deadline reports.

Peart and his partner, Bob Yari, who also helped to helm the hit series Yellowstone and Mayor of Kingstown, believe their newly minted production collaboration, JV WonderSilk Studios, a partnership between their company and Silk Road, will create an easier path for Hollywood studios and indie film producers to access local sites, tax credits (the country currently boasts a 20%-25% rebate), studios, personnel, and untapped talent.

“One of WonderHill Studios’ visions is to bring the greatest stories of the world from lesser-known countries to the silver-screens of America,” said Peart. “Today, standing at the gateway of east and west in the ancient country of Georgia, after listening to the legends of the Georgian Kings and Queens and the fascinating tales of the original nomads of Kazakhstan I’ve discovered that these great nations and I as an African American filmmaker and movie executive from Brooklyn have more in common than I had ever imagined.”

As it stands, one of the country’s few studio facilities is located in the capital city of Tbilisi and is responsible for more than half of all productions filmed in the area. The most recent American project to choose Georgia as its location was 2019’s F9: The Fast Saga, according to Deadline. However, the Chairman of Silk Road Group, George Ramishvili, sees the new partnership as one that will not only close the gap for Hollywood productions in the area but could potentially create greater understanding between the two cultures.

“Combined strength of the founders of the WonderSilk studios in direct cooperation with the Georgian Government will provide the best platform for engagement between Hollywood and Georgian film industry, and most importantly it will bring Georgian and American culture, history and the people even closer together,” he said.

Peart and Yari launched WonderhHill Studios in March to “fill a crucial hole within the theatrical and television space while also focusing on diversity in cinema and television in front and behind the camera”, Variety reports. Combined, the two Hollywood heavy hitters are responsible for over 50 film and TV productions.