Published Sunday, January 11, 2009

Movie incentives having impact

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

In the months since they went into effect, Georgia's film and video tax incentives have had an impact on the state of Georgia.

But things are just getting started.

Since May, when the incentives were signed into law, they have lured to Georgia 10 feature films, six television series and one TV pilot. A zombie movie starring Woody Haralson wants to film in downtown Newnan.

They've also lured to Senoia an incentives broker, a costume designer and a film producer, said Scott Tigchelaar, president of Senoia's Riverwood Studios.

Some in the movie industry consider Georgia's incentives the best in the country, said Tigchelaar. A woman with Disney who "is regarded by most people in the industry as sort of the tax guru from the studio side, thinks Georgia has the best incentive in the industry, which is great," said Tigchelaar.

And that is a testament to state Sen. Mitch Seabaugh and state Rep. Billy Horne, both Sharpsburg Republicans, and all the other legislators who helped get the film and video incentive bill passed, Tigchelaar said.

And when it comes to economic stimulus and job creation, "we've said it many times that the film business is an economic shot in the arm for a local economy that is instantaneous," Tigchelaar said. "They come in and spend millions and millions of dollars across the local economy."

In rare cases, a movie like "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" can bring lasting tourist benefits to the location where it was set or filmed.

When states work to lure industries like an auto manufacturer, "by the time you actually get that deal done and the state has shelled out real money as incentives, the payback on it can sometimes be 20 years and the first car may not roll off the line for five years," Tigchelaar said. "This is so much faster, and we need it in Georgia and the U.S. and Coweta County .

"We need instant relief, and I think the film business... it's not the answer to everybody's problems but it can certainly help."

Georgia's tax incentives give film and video productions a 30 percent credit on income taxes, based on the money they spent in Georgia. Those credits can be used by the production companies, or sold to other companies that have more tax liability in Georgia.

"The important thing to remember is this incentive doesn't cost anybody," said Seabaugh, who has been working on the tax incentives for several years. The credit is against a portion of the money the company is already paying to the state. Plus, the companies spend money in the local economies on workers, food, lodging and the like. "That in turn just starts the dollars flowing through the economy," Seabaugh said. "That is what we want to do, provide an economic engine."

Currently, "there are a lot of folks scouting and looking to produce here this year. It is off the chart compared to last year," Tigchelaar said. "The only thing really holding up the biggest shows right now is the looming possibility of a Screen Actor's Guild strike."

Major production studios aren't greenlighting projects until the strike issue is cleared up, Tigchelaar said, but many independent production companies can move forward with waivers from the SAG.

One movie that is on hold right now because of the possibility of the SAG strike is a remake of "Footloose" starring Zac Efron of "High School Musical" fame.

The producers of "Footloose" have "given us a lot of strong indication that they would like to come here," Tigchelaar said.

A French film producer has moved his company, with about 15 employees, to Senoia, Tigchelaar said. The un-named producer was on his way to film a movie in Michigan with Val Kilmer. Michigan has a good tax incentive, and the producer was using the tax credit brokers, Georgia Production Capital, who have set up an office at Riverwood. He told them he was thinking of moving his company to Michigan, and they told him he should move to Georgia instead.

"He stopped here on his way to Michigan," Tigchelaar said. And he liked it so much, "he leased a house, came to see us, called his office and said 'move everything to Senoia,'" Tigchelaar said. The man has written the sequel to the Kilmer movie, "The Crime Experiment," and "he wrote it to be shot in Senoia," Tigchelaar said. The movie is about a couple who commit a murder in Michigan and "go to a small Southern town to blend in and hide," Tigchelaar said. "It's going to use a lot of locations that you see in Senoia."

Kilmer isn't in the sequel, but an even bigger star may be. The movie should start filming in June, Tigchelaar said.

The costume designer moved her company, Movie Rags, to Riverwood from Orlando. She moved in over the holidays, Tigchelaar said. A chef who does movie catering also is planning to move to Senoia, and there's a distribution company that is considering it.

Tigchelaar hopes that some of the office space in downtown Senoia -- being developed by Historic Development Ventures, the company he owns with Riverwood CEO Paul Lombardi -- will be occupied by various companies in the movie business. Riverwood has also gotten light industrial zoning for property adjacent to Riverwood that could be more space for the support industry.

As the movie business moves back to Georgia, "the infrastructure is moving back," Tigchelaar said. " I think everybody in the industry and the community around, will benefit over the next five years from this incentive," he said.