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I mean...I get where Freddy K is coming from. Like, I would like to hear about other parts of the production from ATL besides the filming aspect which is only one part of the process. Tax credit do have a great deal to do with filming. Toronto & Vancouver were filiming and were building soundstages way before ATL was even a thing and that had a lot to do with the Canadian government giving tax breaks. I'm not saying everything would tumble for ATL, but Tax credits really do have a lot to do with where these companies decide to film. It has nothing to do with being cheap cause Lousiana cut their tax credits and filimh lowered drastically. Hell, L.A. has most of the studios in the USA which are tax exempt, but Hollywood wants to play the extortion game so they started moving. Once CA passed their new tax credit, which are not even as robust as ATL, shows starting moving from ATL to LA.
What we all should really be talking about is why our state governments are subsidizing these studios in the first place? A of people in CA were mad that they passed these tax credits because these studios not only make bank, states are paying for almost half the cost of their production.
Even this feel good article about the NC film industry from 2015 is depressing if you read between the lines.
How so?
Because those other places had sound stages and other facilities.
I'm guessing a lot of is just empty now.
Because Atlanta has a lot more than just sound stages and production facilities since pre-production and development for some shows actually takes place in Atlanta. Turner is there and Atlanta had a minor but existent industry before the tax credits. The tax credits expanded the industry by a lot and certainly production will drop off, but it's not going to just completely collapse as the city was able to support a minor industry before the tax credits even existed.
Also, keep in mind that Atlanta is a fairly large city which has a pretty good suite of professional services and a major airport. It's not like North Carolina where it was the boondocks.
What we all should really be talking about is why our state governments are subsidizing these studios in the first place? A of people in CA were mad that they passed these tax credits because these studios not only make bank, states are paying for almost half the cost
Pretty much. Each of the states, including CA, that handed out these goodies believed they were necessary to capture/retain that business. To the extent those handouts were sucessful, in and of itself, is hardly something to boast about.
Im not dismissing anything.
I know what happens when tax credits dry up..
There's no evidence to prove studio money stays.
I'm sure you'll keep Tyler perry, but it won't be studio work/money.
There's a big difference.
Your assumption that the tax credits will "dry up" is false because there is no pool of money to "dry up." California (and some other states) set aside a certain amount of money (tens of millions of dollars) in tax breaks that production companies can apply for. That's not how it works in Georgia. Georgia's tax credit program is based on a percent of dollars spent on production in-state, and it is also a transferable credit -- meaning it can be sold and applied to multiple projects by the same production company, or even sold to other companies in Georgia that aren't even in the film and TV business. It's basically a way not just for film and TV productions to SAVE a little money, but in fact MAKE a little money from doing business in the state.
I can't remember the exact stats, but last year the industry spent around $1.7 billion in the state on credits of around $200 million. Critics will say that the state is "giving away taxpayer money" but reality is -- that $200 million is not money the state ever had to begin with. And yet, those credits still brought $1.7 billion into the Georgia economy that WAS taxed, did pay wages, supported thousands of jobs, etc. And that $1.7 billion spent actually generated a statewide economic impact of $6 billion. We are not talking small potatoes here.
And again, it sounds like a broken record ... but entertainment industry leaders who were originally drawn to Georgia by the tax credits have stated time and again in the media that it's the infrastructure, locations and crew base that's keeping them here. All of which Atlanta has had for years, though never on the scale that it is now. (The state for example is scrambling to fill a shortage of qualified crew via the newly established Georgia Film Academy.) The credits are now the icing on the cake so to speak.
There's always been an entertainment sector in Atlanta and the tax credit program has only caused THAT part of the local economy to boom beyond anybody's imagination. It's not like the Hollywood trucks just pulled in for a visit. A lot of them were already here, and now many more have relocated and are BASED here. Dozens and dozens of California companies have opened substantial operations in Metro Atlanta (if not moved entirely) to fill the need and meet demand -- from caterers to casting directors to lighting and special effect houses and on and on. One of the most recent is Air Hollywood, which provides airport and airplane sets, full-size airplanes (including 747s etc), costumes, equipment etc. They are opening an Atlanta-based operation at Pinewood Studios.
These legacy Hollywood companies, suppliers, etc would not be investing in setting up such huge high-profile bases of operation in Georgia -- and moving people here -- if they did not think the indistry had some permanence here, or were worried about the tax credit program "going away." Just an example: My own brother in law, a middle school band director, teaches the kids of a well-known special effects director who moved his whole family from LA to Atlanta and has no desire nor intention of ever going back. Believe it or not, a lot of people burned out on Southern California are finding they actually LOVE Atlanta. Just ask Andrew Lincoln, star of the Walking Dead. He lives here. Not there. And there are hundreds of people just like him who COULD go back to LA or NYC when not working, but choose instead to make Georgia their home.
And this is how Georgia is different from all other states that have gone down this road.
AND JUST FYI: Nobody in Georgia is delusional enough to think that Atlanta could ever steal away any of the BIG 8 or other media conglomerates, all of whom (except Disney and Sony) are based in NYC anyway. Nor is anybody seriously expecting the people who create, write produce and finance movies to up and move. Outside of Turner Entertainment Group, Tyler Perry and a few smaller studios, Georgia is content for the time being as being the go-to place to actually film movies and TV shows. And that shows no sign of slowing down. It just gets bigger every year.
You drastically overestimate companies leaving LA for Atlanta.
I wish I could import all the data from Imdb pro or the newest Hollywood creative directory, showing where these companies are actually located. It would take forever to do so.
It's still LA by a massive, massive landslide. Nothing has even changed. All the studios are expanding.
Toronto and Vancouver have been cheaper for 25 years, yet took nothing substantial from LA.
You drastically overestimate companies leaving LA for Atlanta.
I wish I could import all the data from Imdb pro or the newest Hollywood creative directory, showing where these companies are actually located. It would take forever to do so.
It's still LA by a massive, massive landslide. Nothing has even changed. All the studios are expanding.
Toronto and Vancouver have been cheaper for 25 years, yet took nothing substantial from LA.
LA did take lions gate from Vancouver though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freddy K
Hollywood reporter and variety give credit to the tax credit program routinely.
I could go back and link dozens of front page stories from the LA Times over the past 4-5 years about the damage that Georgia, Louisiana and other states were doing to the California entertainment industry, but it's really pointless. Fact is, Atlanta (and Toronto and New Orleans) HAVE drawn thousands of TV and film jobs away from Southern Calfifornia. I understand why you're so defensive, because entertainment and Hollywood is pretty much LA's entire image after all -- but to deny that it's hurt is a flat out lie.
AND ISN'T IT INTERESTING ... that tax credits are the "only thing" that lured the industry away from California, and now the California legislature is scrambling to find equally lucrative tax credits to bring those jobs back?
You're talking about filming, which will likely go the cheaper locations.
I'm talking about where the companies, ie, the industry, actually is. It goes far, far beyond the studios.
To deny that is hilarious.
Imdbpro is free for a month.
Youll find very few Atlanta new Orleans or Toronto companies.
You're the defensive one. You're the one who can't stand it's not really changing anything. Toronto and Vancouver changed nothing. For 25 years, they've just been a cheaper locale.
I don't see Atlanta being any different .
La's big studios have long range growth plans.
And since the future is tv streaming, most producers have to worry less about ratings, so its going to benefit la more than anywhere else..
Tax credits are more beneficial to James cameron , so it makes sense he looks for a cheaper location.
His budgets are 300 million plus.
The real elephant in the room is when California decides to match other states tax credits.
It's still very low in comparison.
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