The film and television industry boosted its direct production spending in Georgia by 50 percent in the past fiscal year, topping $1 billion for the first time, state officials said Tuesday.
The movie and television industry shot 158 projects in Georgia, including high-profile films such as the upcoming releases “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2.” The total amount of production spending was $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2014, which ended in June.
That easily surpassed the $934 million spent in the prior fiscal year.
Georgia has become one of the top states for film production outside of California thanks in no small part to some of the more generous incentives in the nation. If those incentives were to ever dry up, experts say so would the movie business.
Production companies can earn a credit of up to 30 percent of what they spend on qualifying projects. What they can’t use to defer their own taxes —- many aren’t based here and have little tax liability —- they can sell for cash at upward of 90 cents on the dollar. Companies that buy the credits can then use them to reduce their Georgia tax bills.
Film tax credits resulted in a hit of at least a $250 million to the state treasury from 2008 to 2011.
In a news release, Gov. Nathan Deal’s office said the industry directly employs 23,500 people, with nearly 8,200 production-related employees. The state claims the film industry had a $5.1 billion economic impact during the 2014 fiscal year.
Last month, the state held a summit with top film experts designed to gauge the evolving needs of the industry. Many of the business leaders who spoke said the state needs more production talent, and that the production companies still need to import skilled tradespeople and other specially-trained production staff because there aren't enough here.
“Not only has this industry created jobs and investment opportunities for Georgians, it also has revitalized communities, established new educational programs, tourism product and more,” Deal said in a news release. “I will continue my commitment to growing this industry and to developing a film-ready workforce to meet the needs of the productions that are setting up shop in Georgia.”
Among the other high-profile projects underway or that have wrapped in Georgia: action-thriller “Taken 3” with Liam Neeson, “Insurgent” (the sequel to “Divergent”) and the AMC zombie thriller “The Walking Dead.”
Read more about Georgia's film industry later today at our subscriber website, MyAJC.com, or in Wednesday's print edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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