REGIONAL MEDIA ECOSYSTEMS: COLUMBUS

Columbus, Georgia has long aspired to build entertainment industry work. Site of one of the first Camera Ready programs in Georgia, Columbus has also partnered with the Georgia Film Academy to leverage the region’s educational institutions to train workforce. Columbus State University thus became one of the state’s first to offer GFA courses on its campus, and more than 100 CSU students have undertaken GFA training. In 2018, a Columbus Film Fund was seeded with five million dollars, the goal to compensate studios for the extra costs of locating work in Columbus. An outgrowth of these efforts has been a public/ private partnership that joins WC Bradley and Flat Rock Studios into collaboration. A recent highlight was the production of Still, a film produced as a collaboration between the Georgia Film Academy and Craig Miller

Productions. Since the film fund launch, several other films have done work in Columbus— Survive the Night, Electric Jesus, and The Inheritance (shot in 2020 during COVID-19). A Columbus specific website aims to direct projects to the region and connect productions to local vendors (event spaces, hotels, construction companies, etc.). Peter Bowden, President and CEO of Visit Columbus GA and the Columbus Film Commission: “Columbus is on the radar of many producers and directors looking at Georgia. Our team has worked closely with numerous productions and secured films with total budgets in the millions of dollars.” source : Interview with Peter Bowden, President/CEO of VisitColumbusGA, February 16, 2021; “Focus Film Columbus GA event provides update to community leaders, local business owners and entertainment professionals,” Georgia Entertainment News, December 17, 2019.