Gov. Lee addresses report of Paramount possibly coming to Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For years, Nashville has been well-known for amazing talent and artists. But could Music City soon become “entertainment city?”

Politico reports Nashville is one of three spots Paramount is considering if they do in fact leave California.

“Tennessee, Nashville especially used to be Music City, but in the last maybe ten years, a lot of creatives from Los Angeles and New York and from around the country have moved to Nashville,” Nashville Film Institute founder Prema Thiagarajah said.

Here’s what Gov. Bill Lee had to say about the conversation Thursday morning. 

“They have said publicly that they can’t tolerate the business environment there any longer, and we’ve seen a lot of companies leave states like California and many of them move to states like Tennessee, where we have low taxes and where we have a regulatory environment that’s favorable to them,” Lee said.

According to Politico, sources close to Paramount said they’ve inquired about a 400,000 square foot space, in addition to reaching out to two developers about acreage just outside of downtown Nashville. That’s in addition to spots they’ve been eyeing in Texas and Georgia. Thiagarajah points out there around five film schools in the area, with talent and artists hungry for opportunity. She added that the Nashville Film Festival has also grown in popularity with thousands of submissions each year.

“We’re attracting a lot of tourist foreigners as well. And we have businesses like Amazon has moved out here. Elon Musk is putting in his pathway,“ she said. “So it is growing, and we are adapting, and we are ready for this growth and for Paramount to come in. I think Paramount coming in would be like the missing link because that’s the creative hub. And then we would have like really made it.”