Occupying the site of the former Sydney Showground at Moore Park, the studio was created in May 1998 by the now-defunct News Corporation, later split into 21st Century Fox, which Disney acquired in 2019.

The studio has been involved in the production of numerous major films, including The Matrix, Moulin Rouge!, Mission: Impossible 2, Star Wars Episodes II and III, Superman Returns, and Son of the Mask.

The 132,000 square metre (32 acre) site includes eight stages, production offices and heavy industrial workshops, and a community of over 60 independent businesses[citation needed].

The decision by the Carr Government in 1995 to allow News Corporation, predecessor of 21st Century Fox, to take over the site was controversial and attracted criticism from sections of the media such as The Sydney Morning Herald and independent MP Clover Moore.

It was alleged that a secret deal took place between the NSW Government and the largest shareholder and Chairman/CEO of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, involving the donation of $25 million in taxpayers' money for the new site.