Atlanta entertainment veterans express hope for city’s film industry – WABE
Filmmaker and producer Will Packer says he is hopeful that Atlanta will rise once more as a premier film hub.
Currently, 26 motion pictures and TV exhibits are filming in Georgia, in line with state information, with episodic productions accounting for a lot of the exercise.
Packer moved to Atlanta about 30 years in the past to start out his first manufacturing firm, which he used to create movies for Black audiences and elevated African American actors.
“It was essential to my foundation as a filmmaker to come in, in a community where I could find people that wanted to work with me, that wanted to be creative, that couldn’t get to Hollywood, maybe couldn’t afford to, didn’t have connections or relationships, and it created a community of hungry artists, me being one of them,” mentioned Packer.
Packer says earlier than his film profession took off right here, he spent years delivering newspapers for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Florida A&M University graduate who’s behind hit comedies like “Think Like a Man” and “Girls Trip” says, regardless of a current slowdown, Atlanta stays an important a part of the film industry.
“Ultimately, I want to continue to shoot in Atlanta. I will continue shooting in Atlanta for my company. I have to be malleable and I have to be able to create content where the audience is,” mentioned Packer.
“The film industry as a whole is in a little bit of an ebb. It ebbs and flows. We’re in an ebb right now as a whole. It’s not just Atlanta.”
In current years, some corporations, corresponding to Marvel, have moved manufacturing abroad, leveraging decrease labor prices and tax financial savings.
Packer himself shot his new film, “You, Me & Tuscany,” a romantic comedy which premieres on April 10, on location in Italy. In addition, the comedy sequel “Girls Trip 2” will quickly comply with in Ghana. Still, he sees promise within the Atlanta film enterprise.
“I see Atlanta, though, being a thriving community that is going to be able to withstand this moment and persevere. I definitely do, because there are too many artists, creative people, and, frankly, hustlers… ATL is the home of the hustler, and they will not be kept down.”
“We miss Marvel, but we’ve got DC superhero films here, taking up some of that slack,” mentioned Jose Acosta, a professor at Clayton State University and a veteran of the film enterprise for greater than 30 years.
“The good news in Georgia that’s still keeping us in the game is that Warner Brothers, with the DCU, made the Superman film here, directed by James Gunn, and he’s doing the sequel film here in Fayetteville starting this April,” Acosta mentioned.
He’s listening to there’s a 30-40% slowdown in movies coming to Georgia.
“While we were the number one destination in the country for the top 100 films at one time a few years ago, now we’re somewhere around number three or four. That is, California and New York are competitive again. And New Jersey is the new kid in town with a very large tax incentive,” mentioned Acosta.
He provides that Georgia legal guidelines are contemplating altering the tax credit score once more.
“I think part of that is to not only reach for larger films, but also lower the threshold on the bottom end of the tax credit so that more small filmmakers can get in and increase the overall production in Georgia by taking advantage of inviting emerging filmmakers,” mentioned Acosta.
The invoice, HB 1125, proposed by state legislator Yasmine Neal this yr, stays in the home.
