Eighteen months ago the film industry in Georgia was challenged for survival.
While the stars are not indicative of the politics of the film industry as a whole, the prospect of the “heartbeat” bill had some threatening to boycott our state. We were on the verge of collapse. Some in the Georgia Legislature began to question the film tax incentives.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Thankfully, the storm passed. Then, COVID-19 showed up and all film and television production in the state shut down for about six months.
You’ll be glad to know that, as of August of this year, almost magically, the film industry in Georgia started booming again, and Georgia is the darling of the worldwide industry. The two dozen film studios in our state are booked and have waiting lists for filming. This is largely due to our Gov. Brian Kemp keeping our state’s economy open. If you start a production in Georgia, you know you’ll be able to finish without government shutdowns. That can’t be said of California, New York, the UK, or Canada. Georgia is the only place in the English-speaking world with world-class infrastructure and a competitive tax credit. Major productions can depend on the government for the protection to keep working.
And we are reaping those benefits. With intelligent and thoughtful protocols, our production teams are staying healthy and safe in the midst of a global pandemic. Our world is not being stopped by the virus. We are thriving in the face of it.
The three mega-studios — Blackhall Studios, where I’m CEO; Trillith (formerly Pinewood) and Tyler Perry Studios have never been busier.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Popular series like “Stranger Things,” “Ozark” and the Marvel franchises are furiously filming to make up for lost COVID time.
In short, the $10 billion film industry in Georgia is back up and running and should keep growing as big as Georgians choose for it to be.
This success belongs primarily to Gov. Kemp. For all the controversy over being aggressive in opening up the state sooner than other states, that move put our film industry on top. With California and New York in on-and-off shutdowns, Georgia is the place open for film production with continuing stability. Any concerns about possibly going someplace else to film have vanished because those other places are essentially closed for business.
Another advantage we’ve seen emerge for Georgia is that we are no longer viewed as the new kid on the block. The industry has always known that our state has a long heritage of producing films, dating back to “Deliverance” and “Smokey and the Bandit” movies and other more traditional films like “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “My Cousin Vinny” and even “Forrest Gump.” More recently we’ve had Georgia-based films like “Black Panther,” “Jumanji,” “Hunger Games,” “Selma” and the series of major films featuring the Marvel Comic Universe.
Georgia is no longer an expansion team in the big leagues of film-making. Georgia collectively has the stature that the Braves, Red Sox, Yankees or Cubs have in baseball. And sometimes Georgians are the only ones who need to be reminded what a big deal our film industry is here. We are world class.
The film industry in Georgia is back and going strong and for at least the time being is the number-one place to make films in the world. Nice work Georgians both Red and Blue! This industry is flourishing and special for our state, and we should all revel in our collective success even in the face of a vicious pandemic. We are beating COVID and we should press forward and not retreat.
Ryan Millsap is CEO of Blackhall Studios.
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