Georgia’s Film Industry Wants To Be More Than Hollywood Factory
Mike Stewart / Associated Press
Last year, Georgia hosted nearly 250 productions — but “host” is the key word. These shows might film in Georgia, but the money, the concept and the above-the-line talent still come largely from Los Angeles or New York.
According to this week’s Atlanta Business Chronicle, major film studios like Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount and Universal, whose executives have the power to greenlight projects, have their headquarters in Hollywood.
Filmmaking hopefuls in Atlanta have to travel thousands of miles to pitch their projects, and that’s assuming they have the connections to get the attention of Hollywood’s elite.
Some Georgia-based companies and the Georgia Film Academy are making an effort to promote more content creation here.
The Georgia Film Academy was founded by the University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia in 2014 to address the local crew labor shortages. Now that it has successfully established a two-course certification program and its graduates are scoring gigs on hit shows like “The Walking Dead,” it is introducing “above-the-line” courses such as film and television screenwriting.
And industry watchers say if Georgia wants to be known as more than a factory where Hollywood churns out its movies cheaply, it must support its independent filmmakers and educate its financiers about the value of investing in film and television scripts.
Ellie Hensley covers healthcare and entertainment for Atlanta Business Chronicle.
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