In 1915, Mikhail Semenovich Trofimov, a merchant from Kostroma, established the Rus' film production unit (Russian: "Киноателье «Русь»") with studio facilities.

The Rus' studio, employing many actors from Konstantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, specialized in film adaptations of Russian classics (e.g., Tolstoy's Polikushka, 1919).

During World War II the film studio was evacuated to Dushanbe and merged with Tadjikfilm.

Between 1963 and 2004 its full name was Maxim Gorky Central Film Studio for Children and Youth (Russian: Центральная киностудия детских и юношеских фильмов им.

In 2020, the first annual film music festival – Soundtrack was held with the participation of the Moscow Production Center.

At the same time, a film with fashion historian Alexandre Vassiliev about costumes in cinema "Believe in a Fairy Tale" (Russian: Поверить в сказку) was released.

On June 1, 2021, a VOD platform Kinopoisk HD has premiered a new educational series co-produced by Yandex and the Gorky Film Studio “I want to know everything!” (Russian: Хочу всё знать!).

In November 2021, Russian prime-minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered to allocate more than 1,1 billion roubles to modernize old rooms, to build new facilities and to buy new equipment by 2026.