Los Angeles  - Disney plans to build a new production center outside Los Angeles, creating almost 3,000 new jobs in the struggling film capital, the entertainment conglomerate announced Thursday.

Disney's plans call for 12 sound stages plus production offices, a commissary and other facilities that could be used for film, television, commercial and new-media projects. It will help the company concentrate its production efforts at one location, rather than spread them around the city and at rented sound stages as it currently does.

The move comes as Los Angeles struggles to retain film and television production in the face of strong competition from elsewhere in the US and internationally.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the 23-hectare project in northern Los Angeles County has been praised by local and state officials and is due to open in 2013. (dpa)