Inside of a towering warehouse off Alpharetta Highway in Roswell, you’ll find the Oval Office, a jail cell and a corner store all within 200 feet of each other. There’s a courtroom, too, along with a coffee shop, kitchen and news desk.
They’re sets, of course, merely a smaller-scale version of the real thing, comprising a new studio in metro Atlanta that appears like a replica of a real city.
You42 Studios, which opened its doors in June, offers more than a dozen rentable rooms geared toward content creators, from comedians and podcasters to directors of micro-dramas or business owners filming ads.
And unlike similar micro-studios that have opened in Atlanta over the years, several of its sets are fully functional businesses open to the public — a live venue space, pizzeria, country Western bar and higher-end restaurant called High Horse focused around live-fire cooking.
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
Founder Ashley Johnson said the studio is best suited for the everyday content creator that doesn’t have big budgets or major resources to craft sets around their concepts. The themed spaces can be rented for $70/hour, and each one has a wide window for spectators to watch the content being filmed.
“Hollywood, for the longest time, has built these big soundstages and not let people behind it, unless you want to take a tour,” Johnson said. “We wanted to engage that; we wanted to hit that forward and say, ‘Hey, this is not for Hollywood. Yes, you can come in, but we’re not building this for you.’”
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
The You42 studio reflects the same pattern as Georgia’s earlier studio‑building boom: new infrastructure aligning with how audiences are increasingly watching content.
Consumers are increasingly viewing content self-distributed on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, which can range from scrappy, low-budget skits to more ambitious projects, such as short films. The number of viewers watching YouTube far surpasses any other streaming service, according to data from Nielsen. It accounts for nearly double the amount of viewers watching television on Netflix and triple for Prime Video.
This isn’t lost on Georgia’s larger studios, which were initially built to satisfy a need for space to shoot major film and television projects, though are evolving to suit the needs of all types of content. YouTube creator MrBeast recently filmed parts of his “$1 vs. $1,000,000,000 Futuristic Tech” video on Trilith’s LED volume stage.
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
“I think that this will be the first step in really kind of a new age of entertainment, as well as experiences, because honestly, I think what we have here is something that can’t be duplicated,” Johnson said.
The new studio, which occupies one-half of a former Andretti Indoor Karting and Games facility, is an expansion of a previous studio the company maintained in Midtown. It’s more than quadruple the size: spanning 36,000 square feet, the new building is about the size of a Best Buy. The back half of the building houses A5 Volleyball’s youth sportsplex.
The bigger space will accommodate more in-house content creation. You42 runs an online platform where creators can directly upload podcasts, music or videos and keep 100% of their revenue. Killer Mike, Atlanta photographer Cam Kirk and celebrity chef Katsuji Tanabe are among the names who have used the platform. Tanabe is at the helm of High Horse, one of the restaurants in the studio.
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
The mix of rooms was determined based on feedback from the creators who use the You42 platform, Johnson said. There are rooms oriented for podcast formats or talk shows, a kitchen set and a “blank canvas” for a creator to personalize with their own set pieces. There are also empty rooms that You42 will build out later this year based on the needs of creators.
You42 is also activating the building with live events. On the calendar are line dancing and live music at the country bar, along with improv and comedy shows, a watch party for the finale of the latest season of Love Island and an interactive Dungeons and Dragons live show in its theater. There is also an event space that can be rented for birthdays or corporate events.
In the coming months, You42 will launch a creator residency, which will offer professional studio access and mentorship opportunities for emerging Atlanta talent. The creator will serve as the face of the studio.
“We just wanted to build a space that could [give] content creators a sense of community and really build something new,” Johnson said.
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