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Largest U.S. Music Manufacturing, Rehearsal and Production Studio Facility Set to Launch in St. Louis Region

  • June 30, 2021

Officials with the state of Missouri, St. Louis County, the City of Chesterfield, Missouri Partnership, the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Ameren Missouri, Greater St. Louis, Inc., and Gateway Studios & Production Services (GSPS) announced the planned construction of the largest entertainment manufacturing, production services and rehearsal facility of its kind in the U.S.

The 32-acre, $111 million Gateway Studios development will include a 330,000-square-foot complex, employ more than 100 highly skilled music and film manufacturing and production professionals, and see the manufacturing, building, testing and launching of globally touring musical acts and movies. The campus, located at 900 Spirit of St. Louis Boulevard, is projected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2023.

“We are excited to welcome Gateway Studios and the music and film manufacturing industry to Missouri,” Governor Mike Parson said. “We know Missouri’s central location will be an asset for Gateway Studios and its globally featured products. These 100 new music and film jobs will help expand the skillset of our workforce as we continue our efforts to prepare Missourians for the jobs of tomorrow.”

Gateway Studios & Production Services plans to offer turnkey, multi-studio manufacturing and production services solutions for the live music touring, motion picture/television and corporate event industries. The new Gateway Studios campus will be built at the west end of the Chesterfield Valley, adjacent to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport and Interstate 64, providing easy, convenient, and private access for those clients utilizing the facilities.

“This is a game-changer for the live event and production industry,” said Trey Kerr, Gateway’s chief executive officer. “We are adding capacity and additional services, while creating hundreds of jobs for an industry that has largely been on pause for more than a year. We have an extraordinary senior leadership team with more than 100 years of experience in live touring production. GSPS offers audio, lighting, video production services, and live event management. This is a facility that could only have been built from the ground up, designed and planned by industry professionals, so complete that it is without compromise.”

Gateway Studios & Production Services will feature four separate state-of-the-art studio facilities, which will accommodate the development and manufacturing of stadium and arena-sized tours, motion picture/television productions, and one-of-a-kind corporate events. GSPS’s Chesterfield campus offers an uncompromising creative environment unequaled anywhere. Complete, it will include offices, conference and dressing rooms, on-site catering, sound stages, green screen studios, live streaming, and a full range of audio, lighting, and video manufacturing and production services. Its strategic central U.S. location in Chesterfield, Missouri, allows convenient logistical access for clients to build and create their productions at the crossroads of America before moving throughout the United States. Missouri competed with Georgia and Tennessee for the project.

“We are excited to have the country’s largest music and video manufacturing center select St. Louis County as its home,” said St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page. “This new industry for our region brings jobs and new economic development opportunities. Thank you to the County Council for approving my request for legislation to make this project possible.”

“The type of advanced manufacturing GSPS provides the music and film industries brings new jobs to our region, and we’re excited to welcome the group as employer and innovator,” said Steve Johnson, chief business attraction officer, Greater St. Louis, Inc., and president of the AllianceSTL business attraction initiative. “Their vision takes advantage of our strategic central location and unique transportation assets, and it aligns with the STL 2030 Jobs Plan to create high quality jobs in next generation industries and technologies. We join our state and local partners in congratulating the new Gateway Studios development and celebrating it as a win for us all.”

GSPS expects to initially generate over 100 full-time, family-sustaining jobs. The campus will also feature a new hotel, adding more jobs and economic benefit to the region. Plans to offer extensive training and educational opportunities will build a solid talent pipeline for this new industry in Missouri.

“This is a great opportunity for St. Louis County to get a state-of-the-art facility in an industry that is not currently here,” said Mark Harder, St. Louis County Councilman, District 7. “We are excited by the prospect of the economic impact this will have in Chesterfield and the surrounding communities.”

In addition to Trey Kerr, the Gateway Executive Leadership Team includes music industry live touring production veterans Andy Gerber, Jesse Sandler and David Haskell. The GSPS team has worked with some of the biggest names in the music entertainment industry over the course of their careers, including Bon Jovi, Phish, Kenny Chesney, Maroon 5, Drake, Jimmy Buffett, The Eagles, Aerosmith, John Mellencamp, Nickelback, Alabama, Prince, Florida Georgia Line, and Sugarland.

“Gateway Studios is a state-of-the-art facility that will set a new bar for the live entertainment’s rehearsal and production needs,” said Jesse Sandler, Production Manager for Phish, Inc. “It was designed by touring professionals, for touring professionals and that is evident in every detail.” Sandler is also Gateway’s President of Studio Operations.

While its new campus is under construction, Gateway’s production services division is online right now and currently offering booking clients a full complement of production services, including audio, lighting, video and streaming services, as live events and tours resume this year.

“Today, we are celebrating with Gateway Studios on its new, one-of-a-kind facility in Chesterfield,” said Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon. “This project is especially exciting because they are not only bringing new jobs and investment to our state, but an entirely new industry. The impact that this will have on our state extends beyond a place to work and make a living for our citizens, it will make Missouri a competitor in the film and music industry like never before.”

“We were thrilled to work with Gateway Studios, in support of Greater St. Louis, Inc., on this exceptional new development,” said Subash Alias, CEO of Missouri Partnership. “This project will create more than 100 new jobs that will enhance the local economy and launch a new and vibrant industry in Missouri. There is nothing else like his in our state, and we are very much looking forward to seeing where this takes us.”

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