Celebrating Fifty Years of the Georgia Film Office

By Our Town Gwinnett Staff

As the State of Georgia celebrates fifty years of the Georgia Film Office, Governor Brian P. Kemp recently announced another blockbuster year for the film and television industry as productions spent $4.1 billion in Georgia during fiscal year 2023 (FY23). The Georgia Film Office, a strategic office within the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), reported that the State of Georgia hosted 390 productions, represented by 31 feature films, 55 independent films, 241 television and episodic productions, 40 commercials, and 23 music videos, between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.

“Georgia remains a global leader in film, TV, and streaming productions,” said Governor Kemp. “Those who benefit most from the significant growth we’ve seen in this industry over the past couple of decades are hardworking Georgians who fill the many behind-the-camera jobs that come with each project. That’s why we’ve worked hard to attract these and other opportunities for those who call the Peach State home.”

Georgia’s thriving entertainment industry continues to welcome exponential infrastructure growth, including new studios and accompanying stage space. According to a recent report out of Los Angeles, Georgia has now surpassed New York as the state with the second-highest amount of soundstage footage in the U.S. and is poised to become No. 1 if the growth continues as projected. Film support service companies, including these soundstage campuses, are not eligible to receive the film tax credit. Spending on facility construction does not qualify for Georgia’s film tax credits. To qualify for that credit, productions must utilize tax-paying Georgia-based vendors.

In FY23, BlueStar Studios continued construction on a new $180 million film and TV production facility in Forest Park. In Douglasville, Great Point Studios’ new facility Lionsgate Atlanta, is investing $200 million to construct a 500,000-square-foot, full-service film studio and modern entertainment complex.

Athena Studios, a $60 million investment in Athens, opened its doors in January with 120,000 square feet of purpose-built space ready for TV and film production. Electric Owl Studios in DeKalb County opened its 140,000-square-foot production facility that is the world’s first groundup LEED Gold-certified studio campus in June, and NBCUniversal signed a long-term partnership with Gray TV, which is constructing more than one million square feet of stage space at Assembly Atlanta in Doraville.

This infrastructure boom is the result of decades of investment in Georgia’s entertainment industry, which started fifty years ago. Recognizing the success of 1972’s Deliverance, which was filmed in Rabun County in northeast Georgia, former Governor Jimmy Carter established the Georgia Film Office to attract more productions to the state, which would help local economies through hotel nights, spending,