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After reading this article play our Movie Quiz game! Movies are big business. As one of the top regional locations to film a movie, Georgia’s movie making business is booming. In the last 26 years there has been more than 400 movies filmed here. In the last two years movies such as Scream 3, Road Trip, Remember the Titans, Legend of Bagger Vance, Forces of Nature, and The General’s Daughter were filmed on locations in cities such as Atlanta, Brunswick, and Savannah, just to name a few... But the movies do more than invite famous stars and celebrities to our cities and towns, it makes an enormous economic impact. The total money in the last 26 years spent in Georgia directly related to the movie industry is an estimated $2,799,094,200. That’s right- it ranges in the billions. One movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, helped increase tourism in the city of Savannah 60 percent. And when the makers of Fried Green Tomatoes landed in a small ghost town in Georgia called Julliette, it brought shops, restaurants, and bus loads of visitors to eat Fried Green Tomatoes. The movie totally rebuilt the town.The financial benefits have not only impacted tourism but have also benefited the many Georgians needed to put on a production. We are talking about carpenters (set builders), electricians, hotel/motel owners, restaurant owners, caterers, actors, property owners who rent their homes and businesses, office supply companies, hardware stores, bus and car rental agencies, airlines and more. The need for skilled workers in the industry in Georgia has grown so large that there are more than 20,000 people working in Production companies, and Production Support Services, Equipment and Technical suppliers, and Interactive media, year round... When Jimmy Carter was Governor of Georgia in 1973, he knew that the movie business had a great economic impact on an area. He needed a group of people to market and provide movie makers with the knowledge and right kind of information on the state. This was the beginning of the Georgia Film & Videotape Office, which today is an intricate part of Georgia’s Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism. The director of the office is Greg Torre. Greg markets Georgia full time to movie makers from all over the world and shares with them reasons why Georgia is the best place to make a movie. He shows them pictures of Georgia’s beautiful and diverse scenery, and describes the southern hospitality and helpful people can that make their business profitable, easy and fun. He also has recruited a staff to assist them with answers to their production questions, picture requests, and project challenges. These people have more than 75 years of film and production experience between them and have assisted in more than 300 commercial and film projects. They can help movie makers scout for a location and act as a liaison with other state agencies and city and local governments to literally stop traffic for a movie. They find hotel accommodations, fulfill transportation needs, and find businesses and help with hiring crews and actors. The Georgia Film and Video Office has developed a 350 page catalog to give film makers access to everyone and everything they might need when making a movie in Georgia, and if they can’t find it there they only need to call Greg Torre and his staff for help. In Governor Roy Barnes’ words, “In Georgia, you’ve got a combination that cannot be beat for making a movie.” |
Other Featured Articles: What Happened to the Dinosaurs? Timeline of Georgia 1941 to 2001 Jimmy Carter's Boyhood During The Great Depression Let's
Go To a Movie Filmed In Georgia
For more great stories in the Winter 2001 issue, click on the above link to subscribe. To view the Table of Contents of the Winter 2001 issue, click here.
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