"When the pandemic struck, we worked hard in Georgia to communicate with our partners in the Georgia film, TV, and streaming industries,†said Governor Brian Kemp.
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“Together, we forged a safe and appropriate path to allow the film industry to return to operations and deliver Georgia Made productions to eager consumers all around the world - even when some states continued to stay shut down and stifle the industry's return to normalcy.
Studios and support service companies provide additional infrastructure and jobs not included in productions’ direct spends.
In addition to working with studios and communities to bring productions to Georgia, the Georgia Film Office provides multiple resources for local businesses and talent to list their services to industry decision-makers such as the Georgia Reel Crew database, which is a searchable, online directory of crew and support services; the Georgia Reel Scout database of local properties available for filming; certification and a searchable map of Georgia Camera Ready communities; information on available stage space; and other information that links Georgia assets with industry representatives.
This fiscal year, as Georgia-lensed "Spider-Man: No Way Home" continued to rise on box office charts during the year, movies filmed in Georgia claimed four of the top six spots for highest domestic-grossing movies: "Avengers: Endgame" (No. 2), "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (3), "Black Panther" (5), and "Avengers: Infinity War" (6).
Streaming episodic and limited-series programming continue to choose Georgia for hit programming, including Season Four of Netflix’s "Stranger Things," which reached an all-time Neilson streaming record in July for its more than 7 billion minutes of viewing time during the first half of the season.
This show, as well Georgia-lensed Netflix hit "Ozark," each earned 13 Primetime Emmy nominations in July. Emmy nominations also came in for HBO Max’s "The Staircase," Disney+’s "Loki" and FX’s "Atlanta" among others, totaling 46 nominations for productions in the state.
Georgia-lensed productions earned prestigious Peabody Awards in June: both "The Underground Railroad" (Amazon Prime) and "The Wonder Years" (ABC) won in the "Entertainment" category.
Among other industry developments during the year, Reynolds Capital announced that they would invest $60 million in Athena Studios, a new soundstage development in Athens, Georgia. Athena Studios will initially host approximately 350,000,000 square feet of stage and mill space as well as a building for the University of Georgia and the Georgia Film Academy to teach students film production.
Cinelease Studios-Three Ring broke ground on a $144-million studio expansion in Covington, and Electric Owl Studios broke ground on their 17-acre site in the City of Stone Mountain, where Capstone South Properties and Domain Capital Group are building the world’s first ground-up, LEED Gold-certified film and TV studio campus in March.
Also in March, United Talent Agency kicked off their new full-service office, where all 40 of their divisions will be actively represented in Atlanta, from film and TV to gaming and sports to podcasting and music.
While developing the former Doraville GM site, Gray Television announced a new partnership with NBCUniversal Media (NBCU) to lease property for content creation as well as manage all production facilities, including Gray’s studios.
This partnership is estimated to create more than 4,000 new jobs in the state.
The largest studio-based equipment company in the world for film, television, and events, MBS Equipment Company (MBSE), in October 2021 announced the opening of their new East Coast headquarters at Trilith Studios in Fayette County.
In addition to new homes, shops, and production space at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, The Town at Trilith now has a state-of-the-art boutique hotel, expected to open in fall 2023.
As production blurs the line between passive and active viewing with the use of virtual and augmented reality, Trilith Studios and NEP Virtual Studios announced a new state-of-the-art virtual production facility – the first Prysm Stage has become available at the Creative Technologies District at Trilith Studios.
This permanent stage facility will offer filmmakers stable and advanced real-time workflows and technology, operated by experienced virtual production experts.
Gaming, esports, and other interactive entertainment projects such as mobile games; virtual reality, augmented reality, and console and PC game development are also part of production growth in the state, but are not included in the film industry’s direct spend totals.
Riot Games recently announced that the 2022 League of Legends World Championship semifinals will be held in Atlanta. ■