August 1 2019

Atlanta’s Filming Culture

A Hub of Film Culture

In recent years, Atlanta has become a hub of filming culture. There has been a rise in high profile productions taking place within the city. Atlanta has housed great blockbusters such as Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War, Baby Driver, Ride Along (1 & 2), Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 2, and Avengers: Infinity War. These movies take place in our streets, in our high rises, right under our noses, and right in the middle of our daily lives.

As the influx of movies continues to rise, our culture as a city continues to evolve around these massive productions. We become adjusted to the casual explosions on the other side of town and the car chases on a blocked off road. Bystanders gather on sidewalks to watch the show while inhabitants of the city call it just another Tuesday. As time continues, our city isn’t just present in our daily lives, but also on the silver screen.

Why Film in Georgia?

his rise of film productions, not only in Atlanta, but all throughout Georgia, has everything to do with the simple power of politics. In 2008, Georgia lost the major blockbuster biopic of Ray Charles starring Jamie Foxx to Louisiana.

Why was this so important to lawmakers? Wasn’t it only just a movie? Why does this matter?

It matters because a typical movie on location can spend more than $50,000 per day on hotels, gas stations, dry cleaners, hardware stories, and local labor. Movies are a huge temporary economic boost to their location sets. These temporary productions create jobs, extra revenue for local business, and an influx in tax revenue. This is why states will compete, aggressively, for film production in their state.

A sign warns people of simulated gunfire around downtown Peachtree Street during filming for the movie “Anchorman: The Legend Continues,” Friday, May 10, 2013, in Atlanta. Peachtree Street was converted into a vintage New York City street scene, complete with New York taxi cabs and graffiti-painted walls. The film, a sequel to 2004’s “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” is scheduled for release nationwide on Dec. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

After the loss of the Ray Charles biopic, former Georgia Governor, Sonny Perdue signed a generous tax incentive which offers a 20% incentive on movie productions that are $500,000 or more plus an additional 10% if the Georgia peach logo is included within the credits. This law is similar to incentives in other states such as New York and Louisiana. However, in Georgia, this law has no end date. This means an additional law would have to be passed to even modify the law.

The After Effects of Filming on Georgian Culture

What isn’t commonly discussed when it comes to filming are the cultural effects of filming on daily life to inhabitants and bystanders outside of the star-studded excitement.

Outside of economic booms and social excitement, there is a cultural effect on the lifestyles of inhabitants of film towns. My hometown was constantly bombarded with production after production filling up our local streets. Once in high school, a film production closed down the road surrounding campus, which caused me to be late to class and landed me in detention. Another time, my favorite local restaurant was temporarily closed due to damage from a stunt explosion two streets over.

No film is the same, and each film takes advantage of different parts of every city. In Atlanta, specifically, the city can provide a unique setting of high rises and city life that can easily mimic any major US city. Atlanta can also provide unique structures such as the artistic High Museum of Art seen in Black Panther, or the high-tech campus of Georgia Tech as seen in The Internship (starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn). This means there is no specific way to avoid the unexpected burdens of filming in the city as Spider-Man’s latest enemy blocks your morning commute or massive film cranes keep you up late at night outside your window.

A City of Growing Arts

However, as this city continues to adjust to filming, so does our culture. Our daily pastimes include coming together to watch a local film site over lunch, figuring out actor appearances across town, or even auditioning as an extra in a local production. It is a different experience to not only watch the movie, but be offered an inside experience into how it is filmed and the world that is being created.

Filming also has a strong effect on local artists. Many aspiring artists, both independent and studying at the Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) flock to the city in order to gain big breaks and try and get a chance to contribute to big blockbusters in a city that is growing and changing along with its own film culture. Films in Atlanta have proven to attract film mavens, artists, and fans alike.

Living in the Silver Screen

As a city, Atlanta is learning to embrace the beauty that comes with emerging as one of the major film cities across the US. We thrive on the economic booms and artistic movements. We cheer in the movie theatre when we see our beloved landmarks in blockbusters and relish in the small glimpses we catch of unreleased movies. There is a sense of pride that comes from watching a movie and being able to easily identify your city on the silver screen and being able to say, “I live there. That’s my city.”