Movie studio could bring 2,000 jobs to South Carolina

FORT MILL, S.C. — An actress got a personal tour Thursday of a production studio run by the Catawba Indians.

Irene Bedard was the voice of Pocahontas in the Disney movie of the same name.

The Catawbas moved into a building in Fort Mill to start Red Heritage Media.

The tribe plans to build a $350 million movie studio on the reservation outside Rock Hill.

Bedard said her production company could be a strong partner with the Catawba Indian Nation.

"It's fun and amazing, and we all get to participate in this, as I said, grand adventure of storytelling," Bedard said.

The studio could employ up to 2,000 people.

The Catawbas and developer Bert Hesse hope to break ground on the project by the end of the year.

Hesse is the same developer who tried to bring a movie studio to the vacant Eastland mall site.

He had a plan for a $300 million complex anchored by soundstages.

But the city council's economic development committee voted in 2014 to end talks with Hesse.

City leaders said he could not provide enough specifics on exactly what would be built or how to pay for it.

Cox Media Group