Georgia’s film industry may be booming, but post-production work is still flagging, according to industry stakeholders discussing tax incentives with members of the Georgia House of Representatives on Thursday.
Chaired by local state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, members of the House Study Committee on Georgia-Based Film and Post-Production heard three hours of comments from more than a half-dozen stakeholders on better ways to lure post-production work to the state.
The group also toured the Savannah Film Studios, formerly Meddin Studios on Louisville Road, that were purchased by the Savannah College of Art and Design over the summer for an undisclosed sum.
“Gov. (Nathan) Deal has committed the resources for the long haul to make sure we can have jobs in Georgia specifically for this industry,” said Stephens at the start of the session at SCAD’s Poetter Hall.
Lee Thomas, deputy commissioner for the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s film division, said the economic impact of the entertainment industry in Georgia has increased from $242 million in 2007 to $5.1 billion in 2014, the result of House Bill 1100, which created a 30 percent tax credit for qualifying film projects in 2008.
Thomas said direct spending on films last year alone totaled $1.4 billion and included 158 film and television projects that created high-salary jobs across the state.
“As a result, according to Motion Picture Association of America, and this is a new study that just came out, there are 77,900 indirect and direct jobs in Georgia,” she said.
Post-production work on the other hand, including editing, sound mixing, CGI and music composition, hasn’t picked up as much. Among the reasons for this, Thomas said, were a still small crew base, fledgling infrastructure and more lucrative incentives in other states. There’s also the preference of some producers to return to their home states in California or New York because post-production tends to be a lengthy, labor intensive process.
Still, Thomas said, she believes tinkering with the current incentive would be premature and said Georgia gets the most value from the tourism that results from having Georgia landmarks in high-profile projects, listing at least a dozen examples from “Deliverance” to the “Hunger Games” to television hit “The Walking Dead.”
“It’s not the highest incentive, but it is sustainable,” she said. “Incentivizing stand-alone (post-production) could effectively serve to de-incentivize shooting the project in Georgia.”
Besides losing the marketing component, she said, it would also be harder for film office officials to verify and track that post-production is actually occurring in state.
“We’d love to see the post-production grow in Georgia, but believe that first it should be concentrating on the film and television shows that do shoot in Georgia,” she said.
However, some panelists disagreed, saying the option should at least be on the table.
Ric Reitz, president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists for Georgia, said other places such as New York and Vancouver has been much more aggressive in raising their post-production incentives.
“I would encourage us not to close the door,” said Reitz. “Our indigenous growth has to have this component, and the component has to stretch into interactive gaming as well as film and television and music.”
He said this doesn’t necessarily mean lowering the threshold or redressing House Bill 1100, also known as the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, but at least considering other solutions.
Amanda Brown, director of corporate tax at Turner Broadcasting, said she was advocating for a more competitive stand-alone incentive for post-production.
“Do you give this credit and maybe it sparks something? And you get there a little faster than you would normally,” she said.
Most panelists agreed that it was important to grow the post-production sector, but they diverged on the best way to do so.
Kris Bagwell, executive vice president of EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Atlanta and representing the Georgia Studio Infrastructure Alliance, said the best way to retain talent is to make it easier for them to do business.
“There’s too many kids leaving Georgia,” said Bagwell. “One way to keep those kids is to treat post-production like you’re attracting a business — make it easier for them to start a business in Georgia in post-production and gaming and all these related areas.”
Bagwell’s company, with studios in North Carolina and New York, opened its 10-stage facility on the 33 acres of the old Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta in 2010. He said many studios make decisions on post-productions using factors other than incentives.
“We already have an incentive, as Lee said, for movies to do their post here, let’s give incentives to people who want to start companies in Georgia and who want to be here,” he said.
Matt Pope, who owns a Buford-based production company called Modest, also said the state could do more to support established companies. He said his projects, comprised of commercials, TV and film work, had only once met the $500,000 threshold for a tax credit, which puts him at a disadvantage.
“The biggest thing to help local producers like me survive and grow would be to lower the threshold at least for a locally based company,” he said. “We’ll only see long-term benefits able to survive beyond the life of incentives if people are using this time to build local talent, infrastructure and capacity.”
The study committee was created through House Resolution 1601 to reviewing the possible expansion of Georgia tax incentives. The committee will meet again next week in Norcross at the Atlanta Media Campus on Dec. 11.