Listen to this article
Atlanta is considered to be the hub for establishing the business of Film Production, although Atlanta’s burgeoning popularity with the Production companies was not attained overnight. This successful partnering of Atlanta’s beautiful landscape, lenient state laws and the production companies in Atlanta goes way back to the early 19 century and is a result of immense hard work put in by the state government as well as the Film production Companies in Atlanta who have paved the way of this successful settlement.
Economic Boost for the State
Massive investments from the Production companies in Atlanta have helped in boosting the economic growth of Atlanta as well as the state of Georgia. However this feat has resulted after years and years of providing the Film production companies with an infrastructure of highly trained and efficient crew teams specially trained in helping run the production of a project smoothly, well equipped studios matching up to the standards of the studios in LA and by developing attractive tax incentives for the production companies establishing in Atlanta. According to recent statics Atlanta Productions have brought $9.5 billion investment to the entertainment industry in 2018.
Tax Incentives
The tax incentives for the new Film production companies in Atlanta are as such that if a production company invests half a million in a project it receives a tax credits of 20%. This unique tax settlement has lured many production companies to invest in Atlanta Video Production and benefit from this cost effective film production opportunities. Andrea Young the executive director at ACLU of Georgia says, “The state of Georgia has invested quite a lot of money in tax credits to encourage the film production companies to operate here in this state and in that time, the industry has built out quite a significant presence,”
Employment opportunities
Where this lenient tax plan has attracted production companies to invest in Atlanta it has also led to creating a large employment quota for the state’s citizens. It is impossible for the film production companies to move their teams and departments consequently a preferable alternative would be to be able to find crew workers in Atlanta which will not only cut down the travel expenses but also the trained locals can be an asset in maneuvering around in a new location. Hence the government has encouraged locals to train and educate themselves in various field of film production by facilitating them with a number of institutes specializing in various niches of film production.
As per the data provided by the Motion Pictures Association film and television production companies in Atlanta have brought 24000 highly paid jobs and $1.8 billion in salaries for the people recruited and associated with the entertainment industry. The average salaries in film production companies range between an average of $23,094 to $150,144 annually with the pay increase option based on experience and skills. This attraction for the production companies in Atlanta is not only boosting the entertainment business but also is helping in expansion of other businesses like hotels, restaurants, clothing industry etc as the inflow of tourists has also increased because of the film production companies in Atlanta, as people are fascinated and prefer visiting places where their favorite films and series are shot.
To help and attract more tourists a new website www.cometourgeorgia.com was launched to provide the tourists with all sorts of details about the current television and film productions taking place in Georgia and its records and details are regularly updated to make it convenient for the tourists.
Job Announcements
The State government is trying its best in providing as many provisions that it possibly can for both the investing film production companies as well as the unemployed. Consequently in this age of social media for the unemployed there is a Help Wanted Hotline (404-962-4055) and twitter and facebook accounts to keep a directory of potential crew and casting people looking for opportunities. On contrary Georgia Film and Television Sourcebook is a directory providing and updating information about film production companies which are interested in investing and are currently investing in Atlanta.
Airport
A major turnaround came for the production companies in Atlanta with the development of state of the art airport. Atlanta’s airport is one of the busiest airports of the United States with over a hundred flights coming in and flying off in a day. This further made it easier for the international film production companies to be able to establish their production companies in Atlanta as well as for international film production companies to visit South for a specific time period for their projects’ shooting with hired help and leave. According to the statistics of 2015 from the year 2011-2014 11 new films and television production companies announced their interest and plans to move their production companies to Atlanta.
Film Festivals
To further help the new and old production companies in Atlanta as well as companies belonging to all other genres of entertainment industry are brought together by film festivals held in Atlanta as well as other cities of Georgia where new upcoming independent film production companies can also project their work as well as the already established production companies. Annually at least 20 such festivals are conducted so that the emerging talent is provided with opportunities to exhibit their work.
Hence out of all the cities in Georgia, Atlanta has been established and developed as a Metropolitan hub for the film production companies to come, invest and benefit from the opportunities provided by the city for the production companies.
