The Great Reset: When will Georgia’s film industry find a new normal?

Photograph by Andrew Hetherington

Karen Ceesay is packing for a trip to her native Philly. It’s a short trip, during which her mother will sell the longtime family home, so Ceesay doesn’t need much more than her usual essentials. Toothbrush. Socks. Studio lights. The beauty of being an actress in 2024 is that you can self-tape an audition from anywhere.

That’s assuming, of course, that you’re able to actually land an audition these days.

Is acting currently Ceesay’s primary job? It is. Has it been going well this year? Ceesay, who has been doing this since childhood, sighs: “I don’t know how to define ‘well.’”

Acting, she adds, has required her to find different markers of success outside of just money. As for auditions, she’s had a couple dozen in the past months, although she was getting way more before the 2023 actors and writers strikes brought productions to a halt. Ceesay’s husband works in the film industry as a caterer and is usually booked for months on a single production, but even he hasn’t had work since May.

Despite the ebbs and flows of the industry, Ceesay has an impressive reel. She’s appeared as a series regular on several of the breakout shows that have filmed in Georgia, including AMC’s The Walking Dead, Netflix’s Stranger Things, and OWN’s Greenleaf. But highlight reels don’t tell the full story, she says. The reason actors went on strike last year was partially because their pay during the streaming era has made it impossible for most talent to survive solely off their industry work.

While the SAG-AFTRA strike took aim at addressing this, actors now find themselves competing for a reduced number of opportunities. “There’s not a lot of auditions,” actress Reneé Rayles says, echoing Ceesay’s experience.

Photograph by Andrew Hetherington

Rayles is no stranger to juggling work outside of the industry along with her acting gigs. Most working actors do this. Recently, though, she has been wondering: “Should I go back to my previous career, when I worked for a Fortune 500 company, and do that until we see if this is ever coming back?”

The lack of work these actresses are experiencing aligns with larger industry trends. The Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Film and Entertainment usually issues about 1,000 filming permits each year. During its most recent fiscal year, July 2023 through June 2024, that number was down by half. This includes the time period during which writers and actors were on strike last year, but things were slower in the first half of this year, too. Production spending for the same fiscal year was down to $2.6 billion from $4.1 billion the previous year, according to the Georgia Film Office.

This isn’t unique to Georgia. Production tracking company ProdPro reported that filming in Georgia was down 41 percent for the first half of this year compared with the first half of 2022. It’s down 37 percent nationally for the same time periods.

In many ways, the past four years have been building up to this moment of uncertainty. The number of productions peaked post-Covid, as consumers cut their cable cords and bought into an increasing number of streaming services. This has led to an overwhelming number of options for viewers, but also increased bills, as consumers must buy into various streaming platforms to watch trending content. This hasn’t been cheap for film and TV companies, either. “All this money that was being spent to promote [and] to build the content on the platforms was being built with debt,” says Frank Patterson, president and CEO of Trilith Studios. “When you go from 3 percent to 9 percent [interest rates] all of a sudden, everybody wakes up. Instead of asking, How many subscribers do you have?, [investors] began asking questions about earnings per share and profitability.”

In addition to increased production spending, the writers and actors strikes of 2023 also increased the cost of labor.

If the end of last year was punctuated by the hopeful spirit of collective bargaining, the amount of work available for anyone who survived the strikes this year has been a huge letdown. For much of this year, the film and TV industry has navigated layoffs, shrunken budgets, and a reduced number of active productions, as well as company mergers.

Robyn Watson, president of Women in Film and Television Atlanta, says the organization often sends out job listings, but recently the number of jobs hasn’t been equivalent to the number of people who are out of work. “There are jobs out there, but if you think about it, if I’ve still got 100 members vying for the same one or two jobs, that’s not great odds for anybody,” she says.

“The industry at large is not back,” Patterson says. “The industry at large does not know what a new normal looks like yet. It’s just this great reset that’s happening.”

Until it becomes clear what this new normal will entail, the future of Georgia’s film industry—and the livelihoods of thousands of crew members who serve as the backbone of your favorite blockbuster film or TV show—remains in limbo.

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023, Georgia hosted 31 major studio feature films, 55 independent films, and 241 television productions. By contrast, according to the Georgia Film Office, there were 25 major studio feature films, 30 indie films, and 166 television productions filmed here in the state from July 2023 through June 2024. As productions have decreased, so have bookings at Georgia’s production studios. Says Cardellia Hunter, the director of film and entertainment for the City of Atlanta mayor’s office, there are “a whole lot of empty lots right now.”

It’s a frustrating reality for a state that has intentionally worked to increase its production spaces in recent years. Georgia has more than 4.1 million square feet in soundstage space, with 1 million of that built since 2021. The state is currently number two in stage space after California, having surpassed New York. But as production companies look to mitigate rising costs, places with competitive tax laws and favorable exchange rates—such as Canada and Australia—have become strong contenders.

Photograph by Andrew Hetherington

“We are overbuilt,” Patterson says. “And we’re facing some headwinds now.” This year, Trilith has produced Marvel’s Thunderbolts and Warner Brothers’ Superman: Legacy. Despite this, the Fayetteville studio is operating at about 70 percent capacity versus its normal 90 percent, according to Patterson.

Last year, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company would pull back its spending on Marvel productions. Even though previous Marvel blockbusters, such as Ant-Man, Black Panther, and Avengers: Endgame, have filmed at Trilith, Patterson says the company isn’t worried Disney’s decision will impact the local production studio’s bottom line. “As they go through their ups and downs, we’re here to support any time they need, but it’s not critical to our business,” he says. “There’s a whole bunch of film studios that need our services, and we support them as well.”

Michael Clark, general manager of studio operations at Eagle Rock Studios, based in Norcross, shares the same optimism for the future as Patterson. During the pandemic, the company rented out its 220,000 square feet of soundstage space across three locations for a variety of purposes, including a professional cornhole competition and a food festival. Things have been busier for the business this year, although it’s still experiencing a decline compared with the years prior to the strikes. “I really do believe the new stages that we have are some of the very best in the country,” he says. “Things may never be as busy as they were; however, once things get a little more consistent, I really feel as though Georgia will be where studios look to place top-tier projects because we have some of the best crews and infrastructure available to service their productions.”

By mid- to late 2025, Patterson says, he is hoping Trilith will be in a “good spot” in terms of income from soundstage rentals. In the meantime, the company is using its soundstages for some of its own productions.

In addition to investing in a few content companies, Trilith plans to launch one of its own. Trilith’s From Red Clay will release features and TV productions with a focus on local content. The company will be led by film producer Richard Suckle (American Hustle and Wonder Woman) and represented by UTA, the prominent talent agency that opened an Atlanta office last year. “There’s a lot of stories for the world to discover that come from red clay,” Patterson says. “This region is rich with culture. Atlanta is a real leader in creating culture across the world for a reason, and we’re tapping into that.”

“The industry at large is not back. The industry at large does not know what a new normal looks like yet. It’s just this great reset that’s happening.”

Locals have long complained that Georgia’s film industry is based largely off productions that were created elsewhere and only filmed here. While crew members have benefited from this work, filmmakers, writers, and actors who aspire to land leading roles have been left longing for more. “It’s frustrating because I do think a lot of Atlanta talent suffers from still being seen as location talent,” Karen Ceesay says. “We’re not seen as the stars yet.”

Tyler Perry has managed to build an empire from Atlanta, based on shows that are filmed and sometimes set in the city. From his 330-acre studio in southwest Atlanta, he’s created 11 seasons of the BET show House of Payne and fostered production partnerships with both Amazon Studios and Netflix. Still, even Perry has recently been forced to rethink expansion plans.

Earlier this year, he halted an $800 million expansion that would have added 12 soundstages to his studio, due to the increasing capabilities of artificial intelligence. “I no longer would have to travel to locations,” Perry told the Hollywood Reporter. “If I wanted to have two people in the living room in the mountains, I don’t have to build a set in the mountains, I don’t have to put a set on my lot. I can sit in an office and do this with a computer, which is shocking to me.” The media mogul noted this would impact jobs in “every corner of our industry.”

As much as Georgia has been at the whim of industry trends in the past year, some of the lag in film and TV work has been a product of the state’s own making.

As a production accountant, Jessica Feder maintains a deep understanding of Georgia’s film tax credit. For years, she’s worked with both indie and major studio projects to help maximize their tax benefits in Georgia. She says this work has become increasingly difficult in recent years.

When most people speak of the 2008 film tax credit, they’re referring to the evolution of the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act. The law’s incentive effectively offers a competitive 30 percent tax credit to productions, as long as they include the Peach State logo at the end of the film. Production companies with no Georgia tax liabilities can then sell those credits to local companies.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development certifies the spending associated with productions that take place within the state before a credit is generated by the Georgia Department of Revenue. In recent years, lawmakers have attempted and failed to introduce legislation that would cap the number of credits that could be transferred in any given year.

Over the past three years, however, Georgia has rolled out changes that add mandatory auditing for companies looking to cash in on the film tax credit. Feder says indie productions within the $1 million to $15 million budget range are the first to be impacted by this. “Those are going to be the ones who do not have the money to staff an accounting department that could keep up with all of the forms and paperwork and regulations that are going on within Georgia,” she says. “Those are going to be the ones not backed by larger studios who can throw money at a problem to fix it. And so we’re already seeing that happening, where indie film disappeared with the beginning of the strikes last year and really hasn’t come back.”

Georgia has more than 4.1 million square feet in soundstage space, with 1 million of that built since 2021. The state is currently number two in stage space after California, having surpassed New York.

Patterson worries lawmakers “overreacted” to concerns about the effectiveness of the tax credit and, in an effort to ensure that taxpayers are getting the most bang for their buck, made the process too complicated. He’s heard complaints about the auditing process from studios and producers, but also says he knows this is something lawmakers are aware of and working to address.

Feder says she’s worked with a couple of producers who have complained about the tax credit and the amount of back-and-forth with the Georgia Department of Revenue required to sell their tax credits. They’ve subsequently told her they appreciate her help, but don’t plan to return to Georgia for their next movie. Her biggest concern is that the lack of production will lead to an exodus of trained and talented crew members from Georgia, which will then impact any productions that do attempt to come here.

Kelsey Moore, executive director of the Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition, says the advocacy group has been working closely with lawmakers to make sure Georgia remains “as competitive as possible during this time.”

As lawmakers continue to gauge the effectiveness of the tax incentive, recent studies have sometimes provided contradictory data. An audit prepared for the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts estimated that Georgia’s film tax credit creates 34,354 jobs per year. This is drastically less than the 59,700 jobs reported in a study commissioned by the Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition.

One thing both the Georgia State University Fiscal Research Center—which conducted the state-commissioned study—and the film advocacy group agree on is that Georgia’s film industry relies heavily on the tax credit. The coalition’s study found that less than 8 percent of production activity in the state would have occurred without the film incentive. “I’ve never seen an industry so sensitive to these incentives,” says Carlianne Patrick, a tax incentive expert and associate professor who coauthored the Georgia State study. “What I would’ve liked to have seen is that, over time, the industry became less sensitive to this [incentive] as the infrastructure here was built.”

Ultimately, power players within Georgia’s film industry say they believe this is why lawmakers haven’t completely gutted the film tax credit and seem open to considering tweaks. Still, legislators are often juggling the needs of various groups, from soundstage owners to major studios and production companies, as well as numerous government entities. “I think it’s hard sometimes for the legislature to know what’s the right way to go,” says Stephen Weizenecker, an attorney who counsels entertainment companies on production incentives and serves as a member of the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Film Tax Credit Advisory Commission. “Instead of just three or four different lobbyists and interested parties, now they’ve got all these different people that are coming at them all the time, and it’s hard to discern what’s the best way to do something. They’re just being inundated with data.”

He says he’s optimistic about the future of the industry. As viewers continue to seek out new content and the financial market improves, Weizenecker says he suspects Georgia will be one of the “biggest beneficiaries” of production spending in the next few years.

“Things may never be as busy as they were; however, once things get a little more consistent, I really feel as though Georgia will be where studios look to place top-tier projects because we have some of the best crews and infrastructure available to service their productions,” says Michael Clark of eagle rock studios.

Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office, says the state has come a long way since she started there in the mid-’90s. The Georgia native moved to New York after college because she believed she couldn’t get a job in the industry while living in Georgia. “It’s what you had to do,” she says. Today, she’s inspired by the number of students she meets who plan to remain here after graduation.

Actress Karen Ceesay says she’s considered moving but doesn’t have any plans to do so at the moment. As she waits to land more acting roles, she’s taken on some event planning work and updated her LinkedIn profile to reflect how her acting and production skills are transferable to other industries. “Right now, this is all I know,” the 54-year-old says. “What am I supposed to do, go work at Walmart?” Financially, it helps that she bought her house in the mid-’90s—for “a dollar,” she jokes—long before Atlanta’s recent housing market boom. Despite rising costs locally, Atlanta remains more affordable than other filming hubs, such as New York or Los Angeles.

The actress likens acting in Atlanta to gardening. “L.A. has all of the flowers, plants, vegetables, [and] fruits. They’ve got everything in full bloom for miles and miles and miles,” she says. “It’s just that it’s surrounded with an electric fence, and there’s thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people in between you and the electric fence. Whereas in Atlanta, we don’t have everything. A lot of stuff is still seedlings. We’ve got, like, three tomatoes, maybe an heirloom.

“But I’ve got access to this garden,” Ceesay adds. “I can come into this garden, I can walk, and I can pick the fruit.”

This article appears in our November 2024 issue.

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