It started with a vision. When local media entrepreneur Gene Smith shared his idea for a production facility in Henrietta, longtime colleague Mike Fonte was all in.
Next came the design.
In 2024, FLX Studios’s CEO Smith and CFO Fonte purchased 75 Josons Drive, former home of automation services company Bell Howell. The 23,000-square foot structure is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025.
FLX Studios’s president of entertainment, Kendrick Foxx, describes the facility as “small by Hollywood standards but a thoughtfully laid out, efficient use of space.”
While most sound stages rely on a box design, FLX Studios utilizes a unique, highly customized approach.
“You can tell this was a stage done by a filmmaker in every aspect,” says Foxx. “We’re all-inclusive; you don’t have to go outside of Rochester.”
In August, I toured the Henrietta facility with New York State Senator Jeremey Cooney, members of FLX Studios’s leadership team, and representatives from Rochester Davis-Fetch Corporation, a local commercial construction company.
FLX Studios’s 8,200-square-foot sound stage houses a pipe grid for rigging and lighting. While the studio’s second level was under construction at the time of the tour, Smith described a sweeping lounge overlooking a spacious stage.
The studio boasts a functional kitchen, customizable for sets. “We designed it so that the closet that’s behind [the kitchen] is full-length,” says Smith. “We can take a cabinet off, reface it in the shop area, make it look different, and then put it back very easily.”
Additionally, the FLX Studios team is designing marketing and editing suites as well as private dressing rooms geared toward A-list celebrities.
“Come to [FLX Studios] because your stars can avoid paparazzi and still get projects done with the world-class team we have here,” says Foxx.
Basing FLX Studios in Rochester was a deliberate decision.
“There are a lot of intangibles [in Rochester],” says Foxx, “things you don’t necessarily see as line items.”
He adds, “One of my first experiences here [in Upstate New York] was being on Canandaigua Lake. When I saw how beautiful it was, I was like, why aren’t there cameras everywhere? The thing that’s unique about Rochester is that you get the city vibe you want, but you’re surrounded by the suburbs.”
The facility will produce both film and commercial projects with a primary focus on film.
While individuation is a key aspect of the studio’s design, virtual production capabilities also set the company apart from competitors. FLX Studios houses a forty-foot-long LED wall that will be used for digital projection.
“Part of what we do is world-building,” says Foxx. “The script is the blueprint, and then the producers are the general contractors, and we build it. Having this piece of equipment separates us—no one in Upstate New York has that.”
Foxx explains how FLX Studios will generate virtual worlds.
“Let’s say we produce a film that takes place on Mars,” he says. “We could build a physical set, but we could also program [the LED screen] the same way the Mandalorian [from the Star Wars franchise] was shot. We have those capabilities.”
Already, FLX Studios has projects on its roster.
“As far as the films we’re producing here,” says Foxx, “our bread and butter is going to be Tier 2 films.”
While “Tier 2” is not universally defined, these films typically have a budget between $9 million and $12.2 million including all expenses from pre- to post-production.
“At this point, we have secured potentially $75 million in projects coming in. Our goal is to nail down about $250 million over the next thirty-six months,” Foxx says.
Foxx’s interest in filmmaking is entirely homegrown.
“I had a lot of alone time to cultivate an imagination [growing up],” he says. “My escape was TV. During that time, there were a lot of great shows on—a lot of sitcoms, movies—all these different things I could dive into even in a town where our movie theater only had one screen.”
Many of Foxx’s childhood memories involve sitting on the couch with his family, escaping to imaginary worlds.
“We sat there and watched movies and laughed and had fun. Despite our challenges, for those ninety minutes we were a family and there was nothing outside of that,” he says.
As a blossoming filmmaker, Foxx knew early on that he wanted to provide immersive cinematic experiences to other individuals and families.
“Practicing responsible growth is the forefront of what we want to do with FLX,” says Foxx.
“[Studios] bring work and then it trickles into other areas,” says Foxx. “It’s not just about us doing well. We want the surrounding areas to do well, too. The hope is that other . . . businesses [benefit] because of this—dry cleaners and restaurants and gas stations and other businesses that we utilize.”
“We’re looking at several acres to potentially build a backlot,” Smith adds. “There, we could make exteriors, roads, whatever we want to make movies. We buy what’s needed for the films, but there’s also infrastructure left behind. Capital gains.”
For Smith, another key focus of FLX Studios is community education.
“I was always the weird kid with the camera before everyone had cameras,” he says. “I’d love to support kids who don’t have the opportunity [to explore film production]. We can use the theater as a classroom.”
The studio’s upcoming projects will be available to watch on Fire TV or at local movie theaters.
“A lot of projects will be Fire TV originals, but most [early 2026 films] will go out to theaters,” Foxx says. “[The mini-major] has a deal with Cinemark, AMC, and Regal, so releases will be in a minimum of 1,500 theaters.”
“Film stuff takes a bit of time to get going,” notes Foxx. “But once it gets going, it’s like a freight train.” flxstudios.com
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2025 issue of (585).
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