Georgia’s film and television industry hosted 273 productions between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, while productions spent $2.6 billion in fiscal year 2024. The available measures are statewide unless they specifically identify Metro Atlanta or the City of Atlanta, so the figures show Atlanta’s place inside a larger Georgia production economy.
Contents
- Production volume and spending
- Growth and the scale of productions
- Jobs and the Atlanta connection
- Tax credit structure
- Application and eligibility rules
- Atlanta filming costs and city support
- Training the production workforce
Production volume and spending
The Georgia Department of Economic Development reported 273 productions during the period from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. That total covers several production types, rather than only feature films or projects filmed inside Atlanta.
The same Georgia Department of Economic Development board minutes reported $2.6 billion in film and television production spending during FY2024. Across the three fiscal years ending with FY2024, Georgia productions spent $11 billion. The three-year figure is a cumulative measure, while the $2.6 billion figure is specific to FY2024.
The FY2024 production mix was:
| Production type | Georgia productions in FY2024 |
|---|---|
| Feature films | 25 |
| Independent films | 30 |
| Television and episodic productions | 166 |
| Commercials | 37 |
| Music videos | 15 |
Source: Georgia Department of Economic Development.
Television and episodic work was the largest listed category, with 166 productions. Feature films and independent films together accounted for 55 productions, while commercials and music videos accounted for 52. These categories describe Georgia’s statewide activity and should not be read as a city-only Atlanta count.
Growth and the scale of productions
The Olsberg SPI Georgia entertainment tax credit report measured a sustained expansion in production expenditure. Between FY2012 and FY2023, production expenditure increased at an average annual rate of more than 17%. The report also described production spending as doubling between FY2012 and FY2016, then doubling again from FY2016 to FY2022.
The report counted 31 significant feature films in FY2022. Their average budget was nearly $50 million per production. That average describes the significant-feature-film group in FY2022; it is not an average for every Georgia production or every Atlanta project.
These figures place Atlanta-area production in a state market that grew substantially over the period measured. They also show why production volume and production spending tell different stories: a large number of episodic, commercial, independent, and other projects can coexist with a smaller group of high-budget features.
Jobs and the Atlanta connection
The Olsberg SPI report estimated that the Georgia entertainment tax credit supported 30,400 direct jobs, 9,000 supply-chain jobs, and 13,600 induced jobs in FY2022. It reported an average of 29,500 supported jobs each year across FY2012 through FY2022. These are different measures: FY2022 category totals describe one year, while the 29,500 figure is an average across an 11-year period.
Studio construction was also measured separately. In FY2022, studio construction investment supported 4,200 direct construction jobs, 800 indirect construction jobs, and 1,700 induced construction jobs, according to Olsberg SPI. Construction-job figures should not be added to the production-job categories without accounting for the report’s separate definitions.
The report’s geographic analysis helps explain Atlanta’s role. Workers active on a high-budget feature film lived in 42 different Georgia counties. Most lived in the 29-county Metro Atlanta metropolitan statistical area, which contains 56% of Georgia residents. About 9% of the Georgia-resident workers on that feature film were in the Savannah area.
The high-budget drama-series analysis likewise found workers spread across Metro Atlanta in the vendor heat-map analysis. Those workers came from 47 different Georgia counties. Together, the two analyses indicate a workforce that is distributed across the state but concentrated strongly in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Tax credit structure
Georgia’s production incentive is a 20% base transferable tax credit, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development production incentives page. The state offers an additional 10% uplift through the Georgia Entertainment Promotion tax credit. The Georgia Department of Economic Development film rules identify the uplift as an additional promotion incentive, not as a replacement for the base credit.
The production incentives page states that W-2 salary eligibility is capped at $500,000 per person per production. Georgia has no annual limit on the amount of film tax credits that can be earned and no sunset clause on the film tax credit program, according to the same source. The credit is awarded equally to Georgia residents and non-residents.
The Olsberg SPI report evaluated the credit’s economic return across FY2012 through FY2022. It reported a combined economic return on investment of 6.3, a direct ROI of 3.7, an indirect ROI of $1.00 for each $1 invested, and an induced ROI of $1.60 for each $1 invested.
The report also presented combined gross-value-added ROI scenarios under different lags and discount rates:
| Lag and discount rate | Combined GVA ROI |
|---|---|
| 1.5-year lag; 1.2% discount rate | 6.43 |
| 2-year lag; 1.2% discount rate | 6.49 |
| 1-year lag; 3% discount rate | 6.54 |
| 2-year lag; 3% discount rate | 6.82 |
| 2-year lag; 4% discount rate | 7.03 |
Source: Olsberg SPI Georgia entertainment tax credit report. The scenarios are estimates under their stated assumptions, not a single universal ROI value.
Application and eligibility rules
The minimum qualified in-state spend required to claim the film tax credit is $500,000, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development FAQ. Expenditures made outside Georgia do not qualify. Georgia also does not offer a separate investor credit for film projects.
Application timing depends on the project budget. A project with a budget under $100 million must file its completed application no earlier than 120 days before principal photography and no later than seven calendar days after filming starts. A project over $100 million must file no earlier than 180 days before principal photography and no later than seven calendar days after filming starts.
Applicants must provide proof of funding showing assets equal to or exceeding 75% of the total budgeted cost at application time. The 10% Georgia Entertainment Promotion uplift is not awarded until proof of multimarket distribution is provided within five years of the base certification letter.
Televised commercials and music videos qualify for the tax credit only when in-state production expenditures reach at least $500,000 in a single tax year. That threshold is specific to those formats and should not be confused with the general description of production activity in FY2024.
Atlanta filming costs and city support
The City of Atlanta fee schedule lists a $35 base cost for all lane and sidewalk film permits. Lane fees then vary by the length of lane covered and are charged per lane, per calendar day:
| Lane length | Cost per lane per day |
|---|---|
| Up to 100 linear feet | $15 |
| 101–200 linear feet | $30 |
| 201–300 linear feet | $45 |
| 301 linear feet or more | $60 |
Sidewalk permits are charged at 40% of the variable permit cost. Parking permits cost $17 per meter or parking space per day. Rush permit fees apply when materials are submitted 72 hours or less before filming begins.
The City of Atlanta’s Office of Film, Entertainment and Nightlife is the city’s official film office and one-stop shop for entertainment production needs. Its role is city-specific, while the Georgia Department of Economic Development incentive rules and the statewide production totals apply across Georgia.
Training the production workforce
The Georgia Film Academy offers three industry certifications. Each certification consists of 18 credit hours, or three courses, according to the Georgia Film Academy FAQ. The academy has 28 partner institutions across the state.
The Film and Television Production certification has been offered since 2016. Georgia Film Academy professional education courses cost $900 per course plus a 2.3% surcharge. Because each certification contains three courses, the course-count and credit-hour figures provide a consistent description of the program structure, while the listed course price applies to professional education courses rather than automatically establishing the total cost of every certification pathway.
For Atlanta readers, the training data fits the broader workforce pattern in the Olsberg SPI analysis: production labor is distributed among many Georgia counties, with most workers in the 29-county Metro Atlanta MSA. The academy’s 28 partner institutions likewise describe a statewide training network rather than an Atlanta-only program.
The available statistics therefore point to a layered industry: Georgia hosted 273 productions and recorded $2.6 billion in FY2024 spending; Atlanta sits at the center of a large metropolitan labor market; and city permits, statewide incentives, and training institutions shape how projects operate on the ground.