The film industry in Georgia is the largest among the states of the United States for production of feature films by number of films produced, as of 2016. Atlanta is the center of the film industry in Georgia with Turner, Tyler Perry, and EUE/Screen Gems studios located there.
The industry in Georgia was boosted substantially by tax incentives introduced in 2002 and strengthened in 2008. Just in the fiscal year 2017 film and TV production had an economic impact in Georgia of $9.5 billion, while industry sources claim that the tax subsidy costs the state $141 million (2010). Films shot in Georgia include Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2008), Life as We Know It (2010), Contagion (2011) and a number of Marvel Studios productions, including Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame , as well as Ant-Man and the Wasp and Black Panther. [1] Atlanta has since been called the "Hollywood of the South". [2] [3]
Georgia overtook California in 2016 as the state location with the most feature films produced overall, 17 of the top 100 grossing movies were filmed in Georgia. Films in the state helped reach an economic impact of $9.5 billion in fiscal 2017 and $2.7 billion in direct spending. [2]
The state's first tax incentive, a point of purchase sales and use tax exemption, was introduced in 2002. The state's second and most progressive tax incentive, the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, was signed into law in May 2005 and updated in May 2008. The act granted qualified productions a transferable income tax credit of 20% of all in-state costs for film and television investments of $500,000 or more. An additional 10% tax credit was awarded to approved projects that embed a Georgia Entertainment Promotional logo within the titles or credits of each production. This vanity card, usually seen in closing credits, is rendered as an image of the Georgia Department of Economic Development's peach logo, a link to the GDEC's filming-specific tourism website, and a male voice saying or a woman singing "Made in Georgia". [4]
In 2005 Georgia spent $10.3 million on its film incentive. That amount increased to $140.6 million by 2010. [5] By the fiscal year 2015, the amount spent by Georgia in issued tax credits for the year was just over $504 million. [6]
The Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office states that more than 700 feature films, TV movies, TV series, single episodes, and pilots have been produced in Georgia since 1972. [4] In the fiscal year 2017 film and TV production had an economic impact in Georgia of $9.5 billion. [2]
According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development: [4]
Atlanta has become a center for film and television production and counts the presence of Pinewood Studios; since 2008 the Tyler Perry Studios in Southwest Atlanta; and since 2010 the EUE/Screen Gems soundstages in Lakewood Heights, south Atlanta, and to a limited extent, the facilities of Georgia Public Broadcasting, where the first season of Swift Justice with Nancy Grace was taped using state tax credits. Both films and many popular TV shows such as The Real Housewives of Atlanta , Tyler Perry's series, and Family Feud (from 2011 to 2017) are produced in Atlanta, while Floyd County Productions's FXX animated series Archer and several Adult Swim animated series are also produced under GEDC tax credits. In 2014, Trilith Studios (then called Pinewood Atlanta Studios) opened a large studio in Fayette County, Georgia. Films such as Ant Man and Captain America: Civil War have been shot at the studio. [7]
There were 348 productions shot in the state in 2009. These industry establishments are probably supported wholly or in part by the production of feature films; television movies, series, pilots and miniseries; commercials, music videos, documentaries and still shoots. [4]
In the fall of 2019, Tyler Perry opened Tyler Perry Studios on the site of pre-Civil War muster grounds, temporary Confederate Army barracks, [8] and from 1866-2011 US Army Ft. McPherson. [9] Since then, the facility has been used to shoot several big-budget films. [10]
Films shot in Atlanta include Little Darlings (1980), Sharky's Machine (1981), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Outbreak (1995), Remember the Titans (2000), Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2008), Life as We Know It (2010), Contagion (2011), Identity Thief (2013), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Baby Driver (2017), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).
Covington in Metro Atlanta has been home to dozens of feature and television projects that include the hit TV series The Vampire Diaries and In the Heat of the Night . [4] Although many types of films are shot in Atlanta, the New York Times in 2011 recognized the particular concentration of horror and zombie-themed productions in the city. [11] A film about the historical 1956 Sugar Bowl event in Atlanta was announced in 2022. [12]
Besides Metro Atlanta, cities and towns frequently used to shoot in include: [4]
In 2019 Hollywood production companies, including Disney and Netflix, threatened to leave the state in response to Georgia's controversial heartbeat bill. [25] In May 2019, a number of Hollywood studios and broadcasters including WarnerMedia, Viacom, CBS, NBC and Sony issued statements saying they would be reviewing their investments in the state if the new heartbeat bill were implemented. [26]
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of central London.
Fayetteville is a city in and the county seat of Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,957, up from 15,945 at the 2010 census. Fayetteville is located 22 miles (35 km) south of downtown Atlanta.
Hollywood North is a colloquialism used to describe film production industries and/or film locations north of its namesake, Hollywood, California. The term has been applied principally to the film industry in Canada, specifically to the cities Vancouver and Toronto.
Tyler Perry is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her nephew Brian Simmons. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmaking techniques to filmed productions of live stage plays, many of which have been subsequently adapted into feature films. Madea's first appearance was in Perry's play I Can Do Bad All by Myself (1999) staged in Chicago.
Film finance is an aspect of film production that occurs during the development stage prior to pre-production, and is concerned with determining the potential value of a proposed film.
Hollywood East is a term for the multiple efforts to build film industry agglomerations on the East Coast of the United States. Recently, the term has been applied to the growing film industry in New England, particularly in Massachusetts and Connecticut, that served as home to the production of over 140 major motion pictures and television series between 2000 and 2013. It is a reference to Hollywood, California, the center of the American film industry, located on the west coast of the United States. The term as used in New England was popularized in the press in 2007 as film and television productions migrated to the east coast to take advantage of the region's scenery, culture, character, and tax incentives put in place by several state governments.
Film and TV financing in Australia refers to government assistance to TV and cinema in Australia. Over the past 30 years, government assistance has involved a mixture of government support, distributor/ broadcaster involvement and private investment. To a significant extent, government policies have shaped the form and scale of financing.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is a department of the state of Georgia, United States. The GDEcD is responsible for managing resources to attract new business investments to Georgia, expand Georgia's existing industries and businesses, locate new markets for Georgian products, and promote and fund entertainment projects produced in the state.
Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City.
Very Perry Productions, LLC, doing business as Tyler Perry Studios (TPS), is an American film production studio in Atlanta, Georgia founded by actor, filmmaker, and playwright Tyler Perry in 2006.
The official history of motion picture production in the U.S. state of Michigan dates back to the beginning of the Post–World War II baby boom. As of March 14, 2013, the Michigan Film Office website contains a list of 319, filmed in Michigan titles, beginning with This Time for Keeps, starring Esther Williams and in 1946, followed by Anatomy of a Murder, starring Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick in 1959. Contemporary nationally known works filmed in the state include the drama Conviction (2010), starring Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, Kill the Irishman (2011), starring Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken, HBO's series Hung was filmed, and is set in, Detroit, and the Discovery Channel's Motor City Motors (2009), formerly Monster Garage (2002-2006). Originally slated for Minneapolis, Minnesota, Clint Eastwood's film Gran Torino (2008) was filmed in the Detroit area.
LIFT Productions was the first concerted private sector effort to combat "runaway production" of film and television from the United States. In the 1990s the U.S. market lost over 100,000 production-related jobs, as motion picture and television programming increasingly became manufactured offshore. The outflow of work was in large part due to lucrative incentives offered by Canada, its provinces, and European Union members.
Movie production incentives are tax incentives offered on a state-by-state basis throughout the United States to encourage in-state film production. Since the 1990s, states have offered increasingly competitive incentives to lure productions away from other states. The structure, type, and size of the incentives vary from state to state. Many include tax credits and exemptions, and other incentive packages include cash grants, fee-free locations, or other perks.
There is a long history of television and film in New Jersey, which is considered the birthplace of the movie picture industry.
The film industry in Louisiana has grown dramatically in recent years largely due to the state's 2002 tax incentives aimed at attracting film and television companies. The success of Louisiana's film industry caused the state to be nicknamed "Hollywood South" or "Hollywood on the Bayou".
Pinewood Group Limited is a British multinational film studio and television studio company with headquarters in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. The group runs Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios in the UK and Pinewood Toronto Studios in Canada, Pinewood Indomina Studios in the Dominican Republic, Pinewood Studio Berlin in Germany, Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in Malaysia, and until 2020 it had a controlling stake in Pinewood Atlanta Studios in the US.
The Georgia Film Academy (GFA) is a not-for-profit entertainment arts program based in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a collaboration of the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia created in 2015 by Georgia state leadership to meet education and workforce needs for high-demand careers in Georgia's film and creative industries.
Trilith Studios is an American film and television production studio located south of Atlanta in Fayette County, Georgia. Originally known as Pinewood Atlanta Studios, the studio has been used to produce many films and television programs, particularly those produced by Marvel Studios. Trilith Studios encompasses a 700-acre site, with a 400-acre backlot and 32 soundstages. A virtual production volume, Prysm Stage, opened in early 2022. As of 2021, Trilith Studios is the largest production facility in the state of Georgia.
Film and television shot/produced in Wilmington, North Carolina, are usually independent and/or low-budget films, mainly due to Wilmington being relatively more affordable than other cities to film in. Other reasons for Wilmington's appeal include its local university (UNCW), its location on the coast, the presence of many historic buildings/sites, and vast swamps and waterways outside of Wilmington. It has remained the largest film and television production area in North Carolina since the 1980s, when the first major productions started to be made in the region.