Georgia generates record-breaking $4.4bn on production spend in fiscal year 2022

Production spend in Georgia for the film and television industry has reached a record-breaking $4.4bn during fiscal year 2022, confirms the State's governor. 

The Georgia Film Office, reported that the southeastern state hosted a total of 412 productions: 32 feature films, 36 independent films, 269 television and episodic productions, 42 commercials, and 33 music videos between 1 July, 2021 and 30 June 2022.

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.“ 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. Because of this partnership approach and the resiliency of our state’s film and television infrastructure, which state and local economic development officials have been working for almost fifty years to build, we are once again celebrating incredible growth and investment from industry leaders.”

The Georgia Film Office works with studios and communities to bring productions to Georgia, as well as provide multiple resources for local businesses and talent to list their services to industry execs. These include the Georgia Reel Crew™ database - an 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.

“Georgia’s thriving creative arts and entertainment industries support thousands of jobs across our state,“ said speaker David Ralston. “By working collaboratively between the public and private sectors we have created an economic engine that is the envy of the nation. From blockbuster motion pictures to the latest video games, Georgia-produced content is everywhere, demonstrating our competitive advantages in this multi-billion-dollar industry. For producers who are serious about having access to the best talent available and state-of-the-art facilities, Georgia is on their mind.“

This fiscal year, as Georgia-based Spider-Man: No Way Home continued to top box office charts, films shot in Georgia claimed four of the top six spots for highest domestic-grossing movies including: 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, including Season four of Netflix’s Stranger Things, Ozark, HBO Max’s The Staircase, Disney+’s Loki and FX’s Atlanta among others.

Studio activity

Reynolds Capital also announced their investment of $60m in Athena Studios — a new soundstage development in Athens, Georgia. The facility will initially host approximately 350,000,000 sq. ft. 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.

Additionally, Cinelease Studios-Three Ring welcomed a $144-m 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 launched 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.

In October 2021, studio-based equipment company MBS Equipment Company (MBSE) announced the opening of their new East Coast headquarters at Trilith Studios in Fayette County.

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.