The Studios at Las Colinas

The Studios at Las Colinas opened in Irving in 1981, according to a 2011 Texas House resolution marking its 30th anniversary. The first major feature made there, the resolution says, was Silkwood, filmed in 1983. Over the next three decades the complex served as the production facility for The Trip to Bountiful, RoboCop, Talk Radio, JFK and Leap of Faith. Television followed: Walker, Texas Ranger, Prison Break and the children's series Barney & Friends were all produced on the site.

The resolution described the studios as one of the largest soundstage facilities between the East and West coasts and one of the largest in Texas. Muller Entertainment took over management in 2005 and completed a multimillion-dollar renovation in 2009. The property then had three soundstages, a suite of production offices, and filming locations on and around the lot. Its largest stage, Soundstage A, was roughly 15,000 square feet, with motorized rigging and 34 feet of working clearance. The Legislature commemorated the anniversary with a gala on April 30, 2011, crediting the studios with helping make Texas a prime destination for film and television production.

Later that year, the studios found a long-term tenant. In December 2011, Mercury Radio Arts, the media company of commentator Glenn Beck, announced it would base its new GBTV network at the Las Colinas complex. Beck had withdrawn a bid to build in Southlake the month before. Muller Entertainment president Justin Muller told NBC 5 that Beck's staff would start in Soundstage C in January 2012 and move into Soundstage A that March, with seating for more than 500 audience members for live tapings. Muller predicted the move would create hundreds of jobs. Beck's first broadcast from Las Colinas was set for January 18, 2012.

In June 2013, Mercury Radio Arts bought the 72,000-square-foot complex outright. The Dallas Observer reported that the purchase ended Beck's rent payments in Irving. The studios were renamed Mercury Studios and became the home of TheBlaze and Beck's own programs. With the sale, the general-purpose soundstage rental business that had served Hollywood features for 30 years came to an end under the Studios at Las Colinas name.