Prairie Surf Studios provides production space, hospitable environment to Oklahoma’s film industry

Editor's note: This story is featured in OU Daily's Best of Oklahoma guide, which is available around campus in March-April. Check out other featured stories at the bottom of this article.

Prairie Surf Studios has brought major contributions to the Oklahoma film industry since opening in 2021.

Prior to launching the studio, sitcom actress Rachel Cannon was living in Los Angeles and acting in shows such as “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Two and a Half Men.” With the intention of traveling for work, she moved back to her home state of Oklahoma.

Cannon graduated from OU in 2000 with a degree in critical analysis of film and television and production. With 20 years of Hollywood acting roles under her belt, she returned to Oklahoma in 2020, where she noticed a growing film industry.

“I found an opportunity to contribute to that (growth) by helping to add the infrastructure that was missing to really anchor television here,” Cannon told the OU Daily.

Prairie Surf Studios is currently in the 1.3 million square foot space in downtown Oklahoma City that once housed the Cox Convention Center. The facility holds five soundstages, ranging from 24,500 to 32,000 square feet in size, and features a 5,500-square-foot commercial-grade kitchen for catering and a 10,000-square-foot mill space for carpentry and welding.

Cannon said that her goal is to ensure crew members and their families enter a hospitable environment when working on a production at Prairie Surf. Being a mother to a 7-year-old, she said she would send lists of activities that she enjoys with her own family, and in 2023 held a Thanksgiving dinner for crew members who were away from home.

“I want them to know that this is a special place that they come and get to be a part of because I'm really proud to be an Oklahoman,” Cannon said. “I want them to see why.” 

Prairie Surf Studios has been used for the filming of “American Underdog” and the first season of the Sylvester Stallone drama series, “Tulsa King.” The studio wrapped filming in December for the upcoming Universal Pictures film “Twisters,” featuring Glen Powell, Kiernan Shipka and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Prairie Surf Studios Director of Operations Hagan Hunter said that he hopes Prairie Surf can continue to bring large productions to Oklahoma to create jobs and economic growth for the state.

“What I would love to see is the ability to have multiple large productions in the state overlapping so that we continue to have high-paying jobs for Oklahomans,” Hunter said. “And we continue to increase others’ awareness of Oklahoma as a film-friendly state.”

Hunter didn’t originally come from a film background. He spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps before studying petroleum geology at OU. After almost three years working as an engineer in Saudi Arabia, Hunter returned to Oklahoma and explored his interest in film.

Hunter said that the best part of working at a studio that contributes to large productions like “Twisters” and “Tulsa King” is seeing how it helps the state of Oklahoma and provides job opportunities in and out of the studio.

“They can immediately step into these high-paying jobs which don't require a degree (and don't) require a diploma, for that matter,” Hunter said. 

For the production of “Twisters,” nearly 2,300 metro area residents were hired and 10 Oklahoma City hotels were used for lodging.

“You have all these different things that play in that aren't just on the day-to-day set life,” Hunter said. “It’s a lot of opportunities.”

Prairie Surf Studios is located at 1 Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City. The studio’s most recent project, “Twisters” will premier in theaters July 19.

This story was edited by Emma Blakley. Sophie Hemker, Grace Rhodes and Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.