Georgia’s film office says industry brought in $4.4 billion dollars over last year

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - An economic record for Georgia Film and Television. The state’s film office says the industry brought in $4.4 billion dollars over the last year.

That’s up from 4 billion in 2021. The state had a total of 412 productions.

There were 32 feature films, 36 independent films, 269 television and episodic productions, 42 commercials, and 33 music videos.

It’s definitely not uncommon to see Savannah’s squares or neighborhoods transformed into sets for TV shows and movies. And anytime projects come into town, it translates into millions of dollars getting pumped into the local economy.

In Savannah, the department that issues permits for film productions says they’re having the busiest year since 2015, and that they are on track to do even more than last year, when we had 174 permits given out.

“When you really break it down and think about it, the fact that there was such a demand for programming following the pandemic and all the shutdowns, it really makes sense why things really exploded,” Savannah Film Alliance Charles Bowen said.

Savannah Film Alliance founder, Charles Bowen, points out Savannah’s share of the record-setting production dollar total is growing.

“Just a few years ago, the percentage that was being spent in Savannah versus Atlanta was extremely low, only like two percent. That number has continued to grow, to four percent, and then to eight percent...to now over ten percent. So we are seeing a tremendous increase here in Savannah even at a greater rate than Atlanta,” Bowen said.

One thing Bowen says speed up the growth of Savannah’s television and movie production dollar amount, is building sound stages in the area.

“Atlanta has dozens and dozens, and we don’t have a single one. So, in order to really grow the industry to its capacity here, that’s what we’re still missing.”

Some big TV series currently filming, or about to film in locations around the City include the Manhunt series, and Fear the Walking Dead.

Copyright 2022 WTOC. All rights reserved.