News Archive

AGU Studios in Lakes to be Largest Production Facility on East Coast

1/12/2005

They say three’s a charm. In the case of the former flea market site on Oakland Park Boulevard, the charm appears to be quite auspicious. What had once been one of the most star-crossed sites in Broward County is now well on its way to becoming one of its shining stars.

AGU Entertainment Corp., a seasoned group of entertainment moguls looking for the perfect East Coast production site, struck gold in Lauderdale Lakes. AGU, which stands for “All Grown Up,” was searching for a large and centrally located site to upon which to build their concept of a state-of-the-art, full-service film, TV, music and production facility. They found more than what they had anticipated at 3200 West Oakland Park Boulevard.

“This space is incredible,” said Michael Jay Solomon, a legend in the television industry, and chairman of AGU. “This will be the premiere production studio in Florida. In addition, it will be the largest indoor production facility in South Florida, not to mention the largest film studio on the East Coast.”
Solomon is referring to the 164,000 square foot existing building, which is surprising well-suited to the entertainment industry’s requirements. Situated on 23-acres along highly trafficked Oakland Park Boulevard, the facility when renovated will boast 52-foot ceilings (studios in Miami and West Palm Beach max out at 20-feet), six sound stages, (including a 28,000 square foot stage that surpasses those at Universal Studios in Orlando), 75,000 square feet of office space, 12,000 square feet of recording and production space, a 5,000-seat live entertainment venue and all the requisite food service, dressing and storage space needed to accommodate numerous productions at any one time.
AGU Entertainment is a media company created among others by industry giants Michael Jay Soloman, Les Garland and a hand-picked group of partners. It is comprised of three divisions: AGU Studios, the production facility; AGU Music Group, the recording and distributing component, and The Tube Music Network, the partners’ new concept 24-hour, all-music, digital television network.

“AGU Studios will be up and running in the very near future,” said Solomon. “We recently held a “soft opening” of sorts, as the site of this year’s Fort Lauderdale Film Festival Gala, and we have already produced several music videos on site.
The concept behind AGU Music Group is to target the “all grown up” demographic – the 25-54 year olds – instead of competing with major recording labels, which mainly target the youth pop music market. They plan to produce a mix of classic recording artists and fresh, ground-breaking talent. AGU Music has already been busy producing new recordings with superstars such as Chaka Khan, Steven Stills and Lalah Hathaway, as well as an intriguing compilation of music from 100 American artists who traveled to Havana to work with their Cuban counterparts. This release, entitled “Bridge to Havana,” has reached #3 on the Billboard World Music chart.
The Tube Music Network, the newest division of AGU Entertainment, is a 24-hour, all-music channel geared towards the same “all grown up” market. Playing the greatest music from the ‘60s through today, The Tube will be unique in that it will be one of the first digital channels to be offered, and will include interactive “buy it now” technology that will allow viewers to purchase music directly through the channel.

“We hope to bring The Tube into 25 to 30 million households by the end of 2005,” noted Solomon.

The company is a public company and will be trading on the NASDAQ - OTCBB, Future plans call for the creation of three 3,000 square foot production “bungalows,” and a 2 ½ acre back lot production area.. In addition, the partners have expressed an interest in developing a training program with the charter “Smart School” next door, to provide internships and on-the-job training to students interested in learning the ropes of the entertainment industry.

Gary Rogers, Redevelopment Administrator for Lauderdale Lakes stated, "At long last, the dream of an active and viable use for this unique property has been secured. The project holds the potential to create a substantial number of jobs for the community and to bring further recognition to the fact that Lauderdale Lakes is indeed THE HEART OF BROWARD COUNTY. We wish AGU much success and will cooperate with them fully to bring this fantastic project forward."

“Success doesn’t come from money, success comes from people,” Solomon remarked. “We have brought together an unbeatable team, each a highly-respected professional in his or her respective area. This combination of talent and experience is what will drive our success.”
Alluding to the planned success of the new venture, Solomon asserted, “The City mentioned to us that this is the third attempt to revitalize this site. There won’t be a fourth.” For more information on AGU Entertainment, visit their websites at www.aguent.com, w

<< back to news listing

back to top