Lights,
mera,ATHENS!
ca
J
ust a few short years ago, if you wanted to work in movies or
television you had to move out to Hollywood. But that
doesn’t seem to be the case anymore as it appears that
Hollywood has come to Georgia. Georgia was recently
included in the Top 10 Filming Loca ons Worldwide, by the trade
magazine P3 Update. More than 700 feature films, TV movies, TV
series, single episodes and pilots have been produced in Georgia
since 1972 and the film industry seems to be building momentum
over the past few years for Georgia. The reason for this boom? In
2008, Governor Perdue signed into law the Entertainment Industry
Investment Act which offers 30% of produc on tax incen ves to
qualifying produc ons, which gave Georgia one of the most
compe ve tax incen ves in the country. Add to that our beau ful
and diverse landscapes, pleasant weather year‐round, vast network always a great host.
of produc on resources, a large skilled workforce, and Georgia is a These filmmakers have also been spreading the word about their
posi ve experiences in the Classic City. Sen ments such as
standout choice for filming.
“excited”, “suppor ve”, and “easy to work with” were used to
And Athens has not missed out. Just in the past 3 years since describe their interac ons with the Athens community as well as the
becoming a Camera Ready Community, we have seen 3 major county government. This may in part be due to the coordina on
mo on pictures stop by as well several television shows. And why between the Athens‐Clarke County Unified Government, Athens
not? Athens is an eclec c town that has been used as the backdrop Downtown Development Authority, the University of Georgia, and
for such locales as New York City and Asheville, N.C. For long Film Athens, a local non‐profit organiza on working to support,
produc ons, the crew calls their film loca on home and Athens is educate and foster the growth of the film industry and film
community in Northeast Georgia.
But even with an amazing se ng, deligh ul atmosphere, and
suppor ve community, one thing is s ll missing‐ a qualified
workforce. Recent produc ons had to fill technical posi ons such as
grips and gaffers with film professionals from Atlanta or even
California. In an effort to develop that qualified workforce and thus
create a compe ve edge, Film Athens has partnered with the Clarke
County School District and Athens Technical College to build a set of
credit‐earning high school classes to be held in their new classroom,
the Film Lab, which houses digital film produc on equipment and
over 30 film edi ng sta ons at the Athens Community Career
Academy.
The Film Lab classroom will allow Film Athens to be er provide
educa on opportuni es to both ACC students as well as the Athens
area community. Workshops of varying sizes are being organized
THE FACILITY INCLUDES:
DV Cameras
Flip Cameras
A Crane
A Green Screen
Computers equipped with Final Cut Pro,
DVD studio pro, Color and Cinema tools ‐
Tripods
3 Point Ligh ng kits
Microphones of varied kinds (including
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