For decades, the city of Atlanta has been considered fertile ground for a wide variety of entertainment projects, ranging from music to film and television. However, lately the city has truly come into its own with the city being home to several major studio and production entities, as well as a steady number of productions that have chosen the city as the backdrop for their projects. Citing a unique mix of influences, most notably a number of generous incentives offered by the state, Atlanta is indeed becoming the Hollywood of the South.
Of course, that wasn’t always the case. Although the city has been responsible for a strong outlay of creative energy as the home to CNN and Turner Broadcasting, Atlanta’s media scene did not catch fire until former Governor Sonny Purdue initiated incentive packages that encouraged producers to give the city a second look.
”I have observed firsthand the evolution of Atlanta into Hollywood South,” says pioneering film executive Reuben Canon, who moved to the city over a decade ago to work with Tyler Perry. “I was there when Governor Purdue signed the first incentive package for producers to film their projects in Georgia and since then opportunities have grown, which has resulted in a steady influx of established and emerging filmmakers bringing their projects here.”
In addition to the money factor, what has also made Atlanta attractive is its growing infrastructure.
“Once upon a time it wasn’t always a guarantee that you would be able to find the right support in terms of crew teams and other ancillary services that are needed to properly do a project,” says Bart Phillips, an executive with Sun Seeker Media, a full service media production company that produces the Soul Train Music Awards, among other shows. “But now it’s started to connect and the city is on the verge of giving LA and New York a real run for the money.”
Source: Huffington Post
