THEY KEEP COMING BACK

GEORGIA CONTINUES TO BUILD ITS REPUTATION AS A GO-TO LOCATION FOR NEW AND RETURNING SERIES AND MOVIES. ANDY FRY REPORTS

GEORGIA’s status as one of the world’s leading flm locations was re-afrmed in 2022, with the Peach State hosting a remarkable 412 productions.

Spearheaded by 32 big-budget feature flms, the state reported $4.4bn in production spend for 2021/22 — a new record. Following on from $4bn spend in 2020/21, there’s no question that Georgia has put COVID-19 disruption frmly in the rear-view mirror. Governor Brian Kemp says: “When the pandemic struck, we worked hard in Georgia to communicate with our partners in the Georgia flm, TV and streaming industries. Together, we forged a safe and appropriate path to allow the flm industry to return to operations. Because of this approach and the resiliency of our infrastructure, we are once again celebrating incredible growth and investment.”

Recent projects to have based themselves in the state include movie blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home and Netfix sensation Stranger Things Ozark, The Staircase and The Underground Railroad are just a few other titles that speak to the strength of the state’s ofer. Studios currently flming in the state include Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Fox, Starz, Netfix, AppleTV+ and Amazon Prime Video — a remarkable endorsement of the state’s production capabilities.

Georgia Film & Entertainment Ofce (GFO) deputy commissioner Lee Thomas says the reason producers keep coming back is that “we have a complete package. There’s a great incentive, tremendous infrastructure, deep crew base and easy access via the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta, which is the largest city in the state and the main hub for the industry. Factor in the diverse locations and temperate climate and you can see why they keep returning to the state.”

Thomas says the consistency of the incentive has been crucial both in terms of attracting production and giving local frms the confdence to invest. “There have been a few tweaks over the years as we have responded to changes in the market. But the bare bones have stayed the same — a 20% tax credit with a 10% uplift for producers that base some production across the state. The robustness and predictability of that incentive has helped us pull ahead of many of our rivals.”

This is particularly noticeable in terms of high-end stage space. “Georgia had 45,000 sq ft (4,180 sq m) of stage space in 2010, but now has around three million sq ft of purpose-built and retroftted stage space. An additional four-plus million sq ft of space is expected to come online in the next two years in order to meet demand.”

High-profle examples include the Assembly, a new studio built on the site of an old General Motors plant in Doraville. A 135-acre site, the studio has already been leased out to NBCUniversal by its owner Gray Television. This partnership is expected to create more than 4,000 new jobs in the state. Also in the Atlanta area, producers have access to Shadowbox Studios, formerly Blackhall Studios, an 850,000 sq ft site that has hosted big-budget movies including Jungle Cruise, Jumanji: The Next Level and Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Cinelease Studios – Three Ring has broken ground on a $144m studio expansion in Covington, while Electric Owl Studios has established a 17-acre site in Stone Mountain. Also signifcant is the new $60m Athena Studios complex in Athens, around one hour from Atlanta. Having opened in March 2023 with 200,000 sq ft of space, the company recently acquired another plot of land which will add a further 350,000 sq ft. It also announced a dedicated 14,600 sq ft sound stage and learning centre for the exclusive use of students in the University of Georgia and the Georgia Film Academy programme. “Georgia’s thriving production industry will need talent for decades to come,” he said.

The GFO’s Thomas says that Georgia’s studio system isn't just adding space but delivering state-of-the-art tech to producers. Athena Studios, for example, has incorporated a ‘silent air’ system that allows recordings to be made while the air conditioner is on, while Electric Owl claims to be one of the world’s most environmentally-friendly studios.

Already up and running is the state-of-the-art Trilith complex which hosts 24 stages including two that are 50 ft high and have 30,000 sq ft areas. In 2021, leading studio-based equipment company MBS announced the opening of its new East Coast HQ at Trilith.

One of the most exciting new developments is Trilith’s new LED volume stage Prysm, which is hosting Francis Ford Coppola’s sci-f feature flm Megalopolis. Coppola’s flm is his frst in 25 years — and the frst flm to be shot on the Prysm stage. Michael Bederman, the flm’s producer, says: “What’s unique and exciting about shooting Megalopolis at Prysm is that we can marry traditional flmmaking experience, techniques and crew with the most advanced virtual production capabilities in the same space, accessing the best of both the physical and digital options available to flmmakers.”

While incentives plus infrastructure is the engine room of Georgia’s growth, Thomas says it’s important not to overlook the range and diversity of the state’s locations. “If you go all the way back to Deliverance in 1972, then you can see the mountains of Northern Georgia; but we also have big rivers, coastline and a wide range of rural looks. As for architecture, Atlanta can double for New York and LA, but there are also anytownAmerica locations nearby.”

As a recent case in point, NBC series Ordinary Joe used Atlanta to replicate quite specifc New York scenes. Producer/ director Chris Koch said the show was able to “pull of all sorts of looks. A 9/11 memorial scene was staged in Atlanta’s Olympic Park and you can’t tell. Atlanta’s Piedmont Park became Central Park.” The show also needed an upscale New Jersey-style lake house. The production team found the ideal location just 45 minutes away, in complete contrast to the city.

IF YOU GO ALL THE WAY BACK TO DELIVERANCE IN 1972, THEN YOU CAN SEE THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN GEORGIA

MICHAEL BEDERMAN

Shelbia Jackson is director of DeKalb County entertainment commission, one of the two main counties in the vicinity of Atlanta. “DeKalb is home to several of the new studio complexes including Assembly, Shadowbox and Electric Owl,” she says. “But we’re also a flm-friendly county that has had built a really robust process for fnding locations and organising permits.”

According to Jackson, the county has the potential to double for cities like New Orleans, though she also points out that “the studios are busy building sets in their new backlots. Assembly, for example, is putting up facades of New Orleans, a New York brownstone and Europe.”

The year 2022 was good for DeKalb, Jackson says: “The year 2021 had been extremely busy because of all the pent-up demand after the pandemic — and 2022 continued in a similar vein. We welcomed around 100 projects including scripted and non-scripted TV series, films and commercials.”

Projects to pass through DeKalb included CBS TV series MacGyver and ABC’s Will Trent, the latter a detective series based on books set in and around Atlanta. Other high-profile projects were Netflix series Raising Dion and upcoming $200m sci-fi film The Electric State, starring Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things). Also a Netflix project, Jackson says: “That was a really interesting project which created some fantastic post-apocalyptic scenes here in DeKalb.”

Lavish family movie Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile also used locations and sets in DeKalb to double for New York City. Co-director Will Speck says “shooting in Atlanta was great. It was such a special thing to have sound stages where we could completely recreate New York.”

The second biggest filming centre in the state is the beautiful city of Savannah, around four hours to the East and situated on the Atlantic coast. The Savannah Film Commission (SFC) recently lost its dynamic executive director Erin Fraser, who sadly passed away in early 2023, leaving behind what the Savannah team says was a “very strong year, with $207m of direct economic impact across all productions. We welcomed more than 20 films in 2022 — including blockbusters — as well as TV series, commercials and music videos.”

Highlights included acclaimed movie The Menu, which saw the region around Savannah double for the Pacific Northwest. One of the most eye-catching was a sequence filmed on Driftwood Beach, which is located on Jekyll Island, about 90 minutes from Savannah.

Savannah benefits from several key attributes: locations is a big part of the story — but not just the beautiful historic architecture that the city is known for. It also has turn-of-the20th century architecture and mid-century homes that have the feel of Florida’s Cocoa Beach. There’s also an array of brand new contemporary homes, so it has every time period available.

Savannah’s mid-century look will be neatly showcased in Project Artemis, AppleTV+’s upcoming movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. Set against the backdrop of the space race in the 1960s, Savannah downtown, Tybee Island and Fort Pulaski all feature as locations. The latter, which doubles for the Kennedy Space Centre, is around 20-30 minutes from the city.

Other recent projects have included AppleTV+ series Manhunt, set after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead

Underlining how serious the city is about consolidating its position as a filming hub, it has introduced its own local incentive which can be used in conjunction with the state incentive. This offers a 10% rebate on qualifying spend for both film and TV productions — with a $100,000 cap on films and $250,000 on TV series. The ambition is to secure a returning TV