Zack Bowen / Maine Studio Works
Studio B at Maine Studio Works.
May 17, 2023
In Portland's East Bayside neighborhood, a photographer sets up studio (with amenities)
Zack Bowen / Maine Studio Works
Maine Studio Works in East Bayside was used for a fringe festival event.
Zack Bowen, a photographer and videographer, has established a photography studio in Portland's East Bayside neighborhood that will give him a wide range of possibilities.
He's opened Maine Studio Works, at 170 Anderson Ave., with 8,000 square feet that offers expansive space with high ceilings for large-scale photo shoots. It has a kitchen, so it can host events. There's a garage bay and loading dock for props. There's also a woodshop to build props. Plus, there's a prop room — with furniture and an array of goods to enhance backgrounds or settings.
And it's all available for rentals, for other photographers, or video production units. So far, the studio has hosted crews from Bloomberg News and CNN. Commercials have been shot there for NERF and Butcher Box. It's also hosted solo portrait photographers and produced music videos.
"The goal of the business is to be able to cater to any scale of production. From the individual shooter that may only need a few hundred square feet for a few hours, to the multi-day/week productions that require a much larger footprint," Bowen told Mainebiz.
The main studio, known as Studio B, is 6,000 square feet. It has a dedicated kitchen for all food-and-beverage shooting needs, as well as a "prop pantry" that hosts a variety of stemware, dishware and other housewares.
"It is meant to cater to the larger-budget clients who may be shooting for multiple days, or have a much larger footprint," Bowen said.
Zack Bowen / Maine Studio Works
Studio A at Maine Studio Works.
Studio A, a small studio, is 1,200 square feet and can be rented by the hour or used for smaller-scale photo or video shoots.
As noted, there are a lot of props on hand, but for projects that need to create props, there's a woodshop.
"Our woodshop is meant for custom set and prop building, so productions can create unique environments for shoots. Also, clients are able to have custom sets built here, then delivered to any location," Bowen said.
"Overall," Bowen said, "our goal is to build a broader and flexible infrastructure for the commercial creative community here in Maine."
His broker was Chris Davis at Vitalius Real Estate.
Filling a need
Bowen moved to Portland from Dallas 18 years ago.
"I have seen an increase in other creatives in my field relocate here," but he said there's still a need for resources for creatives.
He sees Maine Studio Works filling a niche.
Zack Bowen / Maine Studio Works
The kitchen in Studio B.
He has rented and says there is a need for different types of production studios He said Maine Studio Works fills a niche by offering kitchen space. The studio also has space to build larger room sets, as well as offering natural light.
Bowen sees plenty of demand for a range of production spaces. Bowen said: "There are also many other individual photographers that have created their own studio and started renting it out. All of these resources are much needed, and each one has a unique fit in the commercial arts."
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