CrossRoadsNews, August 19, 2017

Page 1

COMMUNITY

SCENE

New digs for strays

Never too old

DeKalb County’s new $12 million animal shelter, which opened in Chamblee July 26, can house more than 400 animals. 2

“The Intern,” starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hatheway, will be screened Aug. 22 at the Hairston Crossing Library. 4

Let’s Keep DeKalb Peachy Clean Please Don’t Litter Our Streets and Highways

EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER

Copyright © 2017 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.

August 19, 2017

Volume 23, Number 16

www.crossroadsnews.com

Quaint cities popular with film producers, directors By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Cities in DeKalb are enjoying the boom in the moviemaking industry that is taking root in DeKalb. From tiny cities like Lithonia to the city of Decatur with its picturesque neighborhoods and Dunwoody with its skyline, the cities are playing hosts to productions from student-led to studio projects, and spotting celebrity actors who come in to shoot scenes. On July 31, when actor-turned-producer Mario Van Peebles stopped in Lithonia to shoot scenes for his NetFlix movie “Supersti-

tion,” Mayor Deborah Jackson and Police Chief Roosevelt Smith got a selfie with him. Since 2013, Jackson says at least six feature, studio and independent films for the big screen and televsion have filmed

Mayor Deborah Jackson and Police Chief Roosevelt Smith pose with actorturned-producer Mario Van Peebles when he stopped in Lithonia to shoot scenes for his NetFlix movie “Superstition.”

in the city. They range from “Dumb & Dumber,” “Dumb and Dumber To” in 2013, to “A Walk in the Woods,” which starred Robert Redford in 2014. Television shows that have filmed in the city include two episodes of “Sleepy Hollow” last year, and “Swamp Murders” in Please see CITIES, page 2

Film industry cranking out scenes in DeKalb Permit fees, jobs pumping dollars into the county

A movie crew sets up equipment while preparing a scene near the DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management’s Pole Bridge Plant.

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Lights! Camera! Action! So far this year film, television and commercial directors have uttered these words many, many times on 64 productions filmed in unincorporated DeKalb. Since 2013, they have been uttered on 247 productions. And that is just part of the story for DeKalb County. Hundreds more productions – including this summer’s blockbuster film “Baby Driver” – have been filmed in cities like Decatur, Dunwoody, Stone Mountain, Tucker and Lithonia. Since June 2016, when DeKalb County began charging permit fees, the industry has yielded $60,442 in revenue on 65 permits. Most of that revenue, $30,840, was earned between January and July 18 of this year. The 2017 productions filmed in unincorporated DeKalb include “Godzilla,” “Rampage,” “The War with Grandpa,” “The Trap” and “Halt and Catch Fire.” Shelbia Jackson, proj- Shelbia Jackson ect coordinator, Decide DeKalb Development Authority Entertainment Office, said DeKalb is glad to be part of the film and digital industry which, feuled by the Georgia Tax Credit, has made Georgia a major industry player. “We are doing everything we can to support film producers to be here and also making sure our residents understand what it means to have productions in their neighborhood,” she said Aug. 7.

DeKalb Film, Music, and Digital Entertainment Commission

DeKalb County manages film productions in unincorporated areas and its 13 cities manage productions within their boundaries. In 2013, DeKalb County hosted five to 10 films a year. The numbers grew to 54 productions by 2015, and to 107 productions last year. “We will get to more than 100 before the end of the year,” Jackson said. “We expect to exceed 2016 numbers.” Since its introduction in 2005, the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act film tax credit has been luring producers, directors, and supporting businesses to the state. The credit has risen from 9 percent to 20 percent on film production on minimum spending of $500,000 on qualified expenditures. An additional 10 percent credit is available for productions that include an embedded animated Georgia logo on their film. The credit is good through 2019. Since 2008, the industry has seen dramatic growth.

A GSU Andrew Young School of Business 2016 study found that the tax credit is now Georgia’s largest credit program. Between 2009 and 2014, it yielded just over $925 million in utilized credits, the study found. In January 2016, Moviemaker Magazine named metro Atlanta, the number one “Best Place to Live and Work as a Moviemaker,” and Savannah, the number one “Best Small City to Live and Work as a Moviemaker.” For FY 2017 ended on July 31, direct spend on film and television in Georgia reached $2.7 billion, up from $67.7 million in FY 2007. On that spending, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said July 10 that the industry generated an economic impact of $9.5 billion during FY 2017. “Georgia’s film industry supports thousands of jobs, boosts small-business growth and expands offerings for tourists,” Deal said. “As one of the top places in the world for film, Georgia hosted a remarkable 320 film and television productions during the

last fiscal year.” For example, the Georgia Department of Economic Development says that when “Ant Man” filmed in the state in 2015, it employed 3,579 Georgians, spent more than $106 million in the state and utilized 22,413 hotel rooms. While DeKalb’s film industry is in its infancy, cities like Savannah and Atlanta have long been cashing in. Jackson says DeKalb had to get in the game. “We had to react to this industry,” she said. “We weren’t late to the party. We just needed to have a process to manage it.” Savannah, whose film credits include the likes of “Forrest Gump,” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” is making millions of dollars from film production. The Savannah Area Film Office says that last year, 280 productions pumped $130 million into its economy, up from $3.5 million in 2015, after it also began offering local incenPlease see FILM INDUSTRY, page 3


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